Author
Andy Robinson

ISBN
1889102210

Cost $24.95 + shipping

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Table of Contents

Read an Excerpt

Read an Interview with Andy Robinson

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Big Gifts for Small Groups
A Board Member’s 1-Hour Guide to Securing Gifts of $500 to $5,000
by Andy Robinson, 104 pp., $24.95 (Click here for quantity discount information.)

If yours is among the tens of thousands of organizations for whom six- and seven-figure gifts are unattainable, then Andy Robinson’s’ new book, Big Gifts for Small Groups, is just the ticket for you and your board.

The subtitle, A Board Member’s 1-Hour Guide to Securing Gifts of $500 to $5,000 says it all.

Robinson is the straightest of shooters – a sort of John McCain of fundraising. There literally isn’t one piece of advice in this book that’s glib or inauthentic. It has all been earned. But, then, what would you expect from a fellow who first won his stripes as a door to door canvasser, making 10,000 pitches on 10,000 doorsteps.

As a result of Robinson’s ‘no bull’ style, board members will take immediately to Big Gifts for Small Groups, confident the author isn’t slinging unrealistic bromides.

OF RELATED INTEREST: For those wanting boards with clearly defined objectives, meetings with more focus, broader participation in fundraising, and better follow-through between meetings, then Andy Robinson’s book, Great Boards for Small Groups, is the blueprint.

They’ll learn everything they need to know from this one-hour read: how to get ready for the campaign, whom to approach, where to find them; where to conduct the meeting, what to bring with you, how to ask, how to make it easy for the donor to give, what to do once you have the commitment – even how to convey your thanks in a memorable way.

Believing that other books already focus on higher sum gifts, the author smartly targets a range that has been neglected: $500 to $5,000. Why? Here’s what Robinson says:

• They’re large enough to justify the time it takes to develop a prospect list, prepare a letter, follow up with a phone call and visit the prospective donor.
• They’re small enough to include a wide range of prospects.
• They’re both modest enough to seem feasible to the novice, but also ambitious enough to make it worth their while.
• Taken in the context of a major gifts campaign, with a team of solicitors working together, gifts of $500 to $5,000 can add up to a lot of money.

Robinson has a penchant for good writing and for using exactly the right example or anecdote to illustrate his point. But more importantly he lets his no-nonsense personality shine through. The result being that by the end of the book, your board members just may turn to one another and say, “Hey, we can do this” – and genuinely mean it.

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Andy Robinson, who is also the author of Great Boards for Small Groups, has been raising money for social change since 1980. As a trainer and consultant, he has assisted nonprofits in 40 states and Canada, leading workshops on fundraising, grantseeking, board development, strategic planning, marketing, leadership development, and earned income strategies.

He specializes in the needs of organizations promoting human rights, social justice, and environmental conservation. In addition to hundreds of local and regional groups, his clients include the American Friends Service Committee, National Wildlife Federation, Neighborhood Reinvestment, National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the New England Grassroots Environment Fund, where he served as training and outreach director.

Andy is a columnist for Contributions Magazine and a regular contributor to the Grassroots Fundraising Journal. His other books include Grassroots Grants: An Activist's Guide to Grantseeking and Selling Social Change (Without Selling Out): Earned Income Strategies for Nonprofits. You can reach him at andyfund@earthlink.net.

Table of Contents

1. The Money Taboo
2. It's Simpler than You Think
3. The Word You Hear Most Often
4. Where Money Comes From
5. Where Money Goes
6. Why $500 to $5,000?
7. You, the Philanthropist
8. The Day the Beggar Stopped Begging
9. "I Can't Ask My Friends!"
10. "But I Don't Know Anyone Who Has Money!"
11. Prospecting: Looking Beyond the Locals
12. Thy Neighbor's Donor
13. The Most Effective Way to Ask
14. If You Don't Have a Goal, You Won't Reach It
15. Before You Ask Others, Give Money Yourself
16. Honesty, Follow-through, and Reasonable Expectations
17. Act I: The Letter
18. Act II: The Phone Call
19. Do I Hear Any Objections?
20. Where Do We Meet?
21. Act III: The Visit
22. Two Ears, One Mouth
23. Show and Tell
24. Name that Number
25. The Gift of Silence
26. There are Only Three Answers to the Question, "Will You Help Us?"
27. The Installment Plan
28. Closing: Clarify Your Commitments
29. Act IV: After the Meeting
30. The Most Meaningful Thanks
31. "We Don't Have to Do This All Year?"
32. In Praise of Amateurs
33. "Thank You for Asking Me."

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Excerpt This article is excerpted from Andy Robinson's book, Big Gifts for Small Groups,
©Emerson & Church, Publishers. To obtain reprint permission, call 508-359-0019.

The Word You Hear Most Often

When I’m working with a group of board members or other volunteers, I often begin with an exercise. I ask people to take a blank piece of paper and draw a vertical line down the center of the page. On one side, I tell them to write a plus sign (+) and on the other a minus sign (-).

“Under the plus sign,” I say, “write anything about you – your skills, your beliefs, your experience, your attitude – that’s going to help you to be an effective fundraiser. I’m not asking about your organization, I’m asking about you – your personal qualities.

“Under the minus sign, write anything about you – your fears, your discomfort, your lack of experience, whatever – that’s going to get in the way of you being successful. What are your barriers?”

After a few minutes, we discuss what people have written. The group always compiles an impressive list of strengths. They’re creative, personable, articulate, and organized. They contribute money themselves. They have sales skills. They write well. They’re good listeners. Most importantly, they are passionate about their organizations.

You can probably guess the weaknesses. They have no fundraising experience, no time and no energy after a day’s work. They’re shy. They’re disorganized. They sit on several boards, so they’re fundraising (supposedly) for several groups. They don’t know anyone who has money. They feel that asking for donations is impolite. They don’t want to take advantage of their friends. Most of all, they’re afraid of rejection – they’re concerned that people will say no.

Let me make it clear from the outset: the word you hear most often in fundraising is “no.” Most of the people you ask say no. That’s how it works. To quote Kim Klein, author and trainer extraordinaire, “Fundraising is a volume business.” You need to ask a lot of people, because most folks will turn you down.

Some 25 years ago, I began my life in fundraising as a door-to-door canvasser. Night after night, I talked with strangers about social change and asked them to join our organization. I was expected to sign up one out of every eight people.

Over the course of more than two years, I gave 10,000 pitches on 10,000 doorsteps. I did an exceptional job – I broke records for my organization – but one night, toward the end of my canvassing career, I found myself sitting on the curb, crying in the rain. The accumulated frustration of being rejected 8,800 times finally caught up with me.

You’ve heard this before, but if you’re like me, you need to hear it again: Don’t take it personally. People choose not to give for a variety of reasons – in most cases, they simply have other priorities – but it’s rarely about you, the solicitor: what you said or didn’t say, your clothing, your cologne, your inability to interpret body language, or your comedic timing.

You’re going to be turned down. That’s a fact. But here’s the good news: to paraphrase Kim Klein, you and your fellow board members and volunteers already know all the people you need to know to raise all the money you need to raise. You have the relationships – right now – to meet your financial goals.

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