Making the Most of Face-to-Face Visits

by Mike Perkins, Senior Consultant
Petrus Development

(This article is the latest in a series of articles focusing on major gift giving.)

People give to people. This is one of the fundamental truths of great development. The key step in developing and nurturing a quality relationship with prospective benefactors is a personal, face-to-face visit. All major gifts begin with great conversation, and conversations are the focus of your personal visits. Conversation occurs at special events, over the phone and through a string of emails, but the most productive, relationship-enhancing conversation is enjoyed during intentional, personal visits.

People offer their most significant support to those organizations they feel the most connection to. They might respond to a direct mail piece, indicating they are interested in your mission, but major gifts are the result of exploring their interest in depth, helping them ascertain that they are aligned with your mission, have confidence in your organization’s leadership, your strategic plan and vision for the future and your capacity to effectively achieve your goals. Such confidence is fostered through a series of personal, cultivating visits.

Great fundraisers are great conversationalists. At the heart of a great conversation is a sense, in both parties, that each truly cares about the other’s interests. A good fundraising visit focuses on illuminating conversation with a marvelous, richly nuanced individual or couple. They must perceive that you sincerely care about them and their interests. They will say “Yes!” to your solicitation of their support if they believe their interests are aligned with your mission. Your job is to explore their interests and see if they intersect with your organization’s priorities and plan. If so, they are good prospects who can become great benefactors, enjoying the act of giving even more than your organization enjoys receiving their support.

Your goal is to engage the person or couple in conversation guided by questions which explore the information you require to judge: 1) whether they are prospects, 2) at what level they are capable of giving, 3) to which program or project they would be most fulfilled in supporting, 4) who should make the ask, 5) what steps are needed to cultivate them until they are ready to be asked for a major gift, and 6) how best to steward them once the first major gift is made.

Your tools for a successful personal visit are your skills of observation and artful questioning, coupled with sincerity and enthusiasm for your organization’s mission, enhanced by your genuine concern for their best interests.

Develop your personal “routine” for successful visits: observe, ask, listen, respond, plan and record.

Observe the prospect’s surroundings. See them at their home or office, where they feel the most comfortable. Details about their neighborhood, automobiles, furniture and possessions offer clues to their capacity and their most cherished interests. Photographs, diplomas, pieces of art, displayed items and books reveal who and what they care about and provide ideal conversation starters. It is a privilege to be in their home or office. Revel in the opportunity to learn about who and what they love. Be more interested in them than in getting money for your cause. This is the heart of developing a great relationship.

Ask them questions, moving from the superficial to the intimate, appropriately. Your conversation can move from their obvious interest in golf to the moments shared with children and grandchildren while playing golf, to their dreams and aspirations for themselves and those they love. How can your organization fulfill their dreams and aspirations in a manner that is beneficial for both them and the beneficiaries of your organization’s mission?

Engage in conversation through questions that uncover how they think and feel about their family and interests, their views on giving and to whom they have given, their views about your organization, their volunteer activities for your, and other, organizations.

Respond to questions from them. Share about your own life, family, interests and why you are so passionate about the great work and services of your organization. You are there to converse, not lecture. Conversation is a two-way interaction, not an interrogation.

As you visit and listen, begin to plan ahead. Do their answers reveal that they are interested in your organization’s mission and do they have the capacity and propensity to make a gift? Based on observation and their answers to your questions about past giving, how much time should you invest in further cultivation? What are the best steps to take for cultivating them in a personal way? Who do they know at your organization who might be included in cultivating them, and who should solicit their giving opportunity?

Make the next appointment before you leave. Based on their interests, invite them to an event, or to tour your facility, to dine with your executive director or program director, or simply to get together for more conversation. Ask them if they know of other persons who might be interested in your organization and if they will help introduce you to them. Be sure to ask if there is anything you can do for them. Thank them for their time and interest.

Drive away, then find a safe place to record notes for your call report, detailing family connections, interests, volunteer activities, giving history, and preliminary next steps. These are the notes best recorded while fresh and enhanced later in your office.

Finally, offer a prayer for the person/s you visited with. Give thanks that you are blessed to meet such wonderful people while working on behalf of your organization accomplishing significant service to the community. As soon as you return to the office, record your call report and send a personalized thank you note. Then pick up the phone to set future appointments for another great conversation that builds the relationships that lead to mutually beneficial major gifts.

Mike Perkins is veteran fundraiser with 26 years of experience in university development, not-for-profits, and educational institutions and a Senior Consultant for Petrus Development.