One sure way to kill your campaign is to ignore the few that can make your campaign a success. “We don’t believe in singling out lead donors.” That comment was made by a church that where a new consultant I was training was working at. I had taught this former pastor the importance of understanding that the few will give the majority of what will be raised. When the pastor made the above quote my friend got up and erased several millions of dollars off the board that were projected to come in through this key group. He then said, “Without a strategy to impact this key group we now need to reset our goals and expectations.” The pastor cried out, “We need to raise those millions to make this project work. Tell me what I need to do!” He suddenly understood that to raise the dollars they needed they could not ignore his top end donors.
When it comes to a strategy to impact lead donors I find most pastors and lay leaders mis-understand what this entails. So let me stress that,
When we share with you that you MUST impact the top 5% of your donor base to successfully raise funds we are NOT asking you to…
Show favoritism to anyone group over another. Talking personally to the group that have the means to impact your campaign is not a violation of Scripture. Scripture admonishes us not to favor the rich over anyone else. You are not to give them the best seats in the house or upfront parking. You are not to visit them and ignore others in your flock. The reality has become today that if you are a person of wealth we often show you reverse favoritism, we ignore you for fear of showing favoritism.
A few in your church are able to give significantly to your campaign. They need their questions answered and they need appropriately challenged. Their gifts can and will make up as much as 50% of what is given. You need a plan to address their concerns, questions and to elicit their support.
When we share with you that you MUST impact the top 5% of your donor base to successfully raise funds we are NOT asking you to…
Put pressure on donors to give a specific amount. I believe what people give is up to the Holy Spirit. Any pressure a donor feels should be from the Spirit not us. We advise that meeting with your lead donors is about casting a compelling vision and answering their questions. We don’t make direct asks in terms of set dollar amounts. We do believe in asking members to pray that their gift would honor God and be the best gift possible. What that amount is is between them and the Lord. It is not about pressure it is about sharing a vision that connects to the donor’s heart.
When we share with you that you MUST impact the top 5% of your donor base to successfully raise funds we are NOT asking you to…
Violate any of your core values. The reality of ANY and EVERY church is that the few will give the majority of the money. We simply need to find the best way to accomplish that. We can figure the HOW out in a way that does not violate the core values of your church. We know how to do that. Do you?
Not long ago a church I worked with decided NOT to devise a strategy to impact lead donors. I had shown them that 31 families had given 50% of what was given to the church that year. Those 31 would determine the success of failure of the upcoming campaign. I had shared that we needed to find a way to cast the vision of the project to them personally. I stated that we could alphabetize the list but that we needed to make sure these giving leaders clearly understood the need of the campaign. The church leadership nixed the idea. That church did not raise even one times their budget!
We can show you how to devise a plan to impact your lead donors that will not get you in a ditch. When 5% to 10% of your donors will give 50% to 75% of your campaign dollars doesn’t it make sense to have a plan to impact them?
