In my last article in this series I translated Assessment from the Development Cycle into WHAT, for what purpose your possible donors might consider making a major gift.
This article translates Cultivation, the next stage of the Development Cycle, into HOW your donor can best make the gift you’re seeking.
Your opportunity here is to expand the conversation beyond gifts from income, to help her understand all that HOW might include, what the choices are. You want to avoid the risk of letting your prospect assume the invitation to discuss WHAT the gift might be used for was in fact the solicitation.
This is your opportunity, especially if you proactively explained it when you invited the gift conversation, to expand her thinking beyond gifts of cash or the multi-year pledge. This is when you want to invite a conversation about when the gift plan might best be made, with what assets, and in conjunction with what considerations you will discuss together.
Several years ago I figured out that the conversation about HOW will come from a pretty small list of possible topics, including
• Triggering life events that invite or require
• Asset allocation, which usually involves
• A tax-related issue
• Or an inquiry about a specific giving strategy
• Who else should be involved in the conversation
This deliberate approach to HOW the gift plan might be made paves the way for meaningful Win-Win gift planning, and will help you find larger gifts than you or your prospect might have thought possible. It opens the list of choices to include both outright and deferred gift plans. It helps you grow into a real major gift planner.
The fifth and final article in this series will translate Solicitation into the fourth of the four decisions in the donors’ language, and the only part that asks for the gift — WILL YOU?