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(MG Series #7) Use These Three Skills to Close Major Gifts Faster

We thought you might be interested in hearing about three skills everyone needs in order to close major gifts much faster. So today, in the final article of our Major Gifts 2021 content series, we’re sharing the secret skills that the best fundraisers use to close mega gifts.

Here’s the challenge we often face: donors are people. Which means they are human – they can be ambiguous and confusing. Smart fundraisers can read their donors, decipher the implications of a donor conversation and move forward to a gift conversation.

Use the Artful Questions to Find Out Where a Donor Stands.

Often, mega donors don’t come right out and say things unless directly asked. They’ll share conflicting information about their financial position, their family and their giving intentions.

One of the great tragedies of fundraising is when we assume too much about a donor.

We may decide they are a serious donor prospect, based solely on a wealth screening report. Or we may assume they will not be supporting our cause for one reason or another. Either way, donors can – and will – surprise you.

One of the skills we teach in the Major Gifts Intensive program (join us this year!) is how to ask the Artful Questions to find out where your donor truly stands. You can politely, but directly, ask donors specific questions about their intentions.

There is a way to do this that is organic and natural, never pushy. Everyone who aspires to close major gifts needs the Artful Questioning technique that moves a donor toward a gift.

The best fundraisers master Artful Questioning – the hard but delicate questions that uncover their donor’s intentions.

Learn to Read Your Donor’s Cues.

Donors give you signals – some weak and some strong. The best fundraisers can “read” their donors, because they are constantly vigilant, scanning the donor’s communication and behavior for signs of greater enthusiasm or change.

Your major or principal gift donor is constantly giving you cues about where they stand, but alas, you and your team are missing them.

The problem is, you are not paying close enough attention.

Practice watching the things your donors actually do – such as their willingness to chat with you or their facial expressions. (Do they smile when you call?)

Donors will also say surprising things that will perk up your ears. They may ask about naming opportunities or ask to meet your CEO and learn more about your work. They may mention a recent inheritance or a financial situation. These are all classic signals that your donor is interested in deeper support.

  • Kathryn closed the largest gift of her career ($9 million!) when she picked up a side comment from a donor couple – that they didn’t have kids and were planning their estate.
  • Gail likes to tell a story of when she realized the donor was blowing her off, by just the flicker of his eyelid and posture shift. “I got the message quickly,” she says, “and I changed the subject to a more productive direction!”

Use Deeper Listening to Find Your Next Gift.

There’s an absolutely critical attribute of every smart fundraiser – including staffers, CEOs, deans and chancellors, leaders of all types who engage with donor prospects. They must learn the Deeper Listening skills.

Here’s the problem: your team members are too focused on the excitement of the meeting, including what they are planning to say next. If they tend to be talkers, they have a problem. Typically a dean, CEO or your president is going to expect to talk.

Not so. Your donor expects to do the talking.

Deeper listening will help you interpret your donor’s cues, and move in the direction they want to go. You’ll be alert to signs of readiness to give.

The best fundraisers know how to listen their way to a gift.

Bottom Line: The Secret Skills that Help You Close Major Gifts Much Faster.

Don’t wallow around just guessing. Learn to read your donor, listen and ask for clarification. You’ll save so very much time!

Major Gifts Intensive registration will close out next week!

If you and your team want to learn the secrets to locate and close mega gifts, then plan to join us in this year’s Major Gifts Intensive coaching program. This program only happens once a year and we are filling up quickly. But we would love to chat with you and make room. Find out more here and schedule a call with us next week.

We often receive questions about the return on investment of this program. Remember this: the Major Gifts Intensive course will PAY FOR ITSELF through increased gifts.

In fact, most members receive a 10 to 1 return on their investment. So not only does the program pay for itself, but it often brings a 1000% return – much better than the earnings from your endowment. Just think about the long term payoff of building up a robust major gift program for your institution!

Have questions about the Major Gifts Intensive? Email anne@gailperry.com and we’ll follow up shortly!

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Superpowers of Successful Major Gift Fundraisers

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Does it ever feel like some fundraisers have superpowers? You know, those ones who raise six, seven and even eight-figure gifts.

And you look at them and wonder, “what special qualities DO these talented major gift fundraisers have?”

“How are they so successful?”

“What is their secret?”

Well, today we will tell you a few of these “secret” traits. And, luckily, they are traits that you, too, can possess. If you want to learn how to build these traits, join us in our 2023 Major Gifts Intensive coaching program. You’ll come out of it a superhero – raising mega gifts in no time.

The Top Superpowers of Successful Major Gift Fundraisers:

Superpower #1: Successful Major Gift Fundraisers are Focused and Disciplined.

We have many distractions in our work. It’s very, very easy to to get sidetracked.

Master fundraisers need to always focus, focus, focus on their intention: which is to move toward a gift conversation.

It’s easy to get lost in all the socializing that comes with major gift fundraising – but that doesn’t bring in the gifts.

Social skills help you get your foot in the door, but as a successful fundraiser you always keep your eye on your goal. 

Donor conversations can wander all over the place. It’s important to bring the conversation back to your fundraising in indirect ways. Talk about your organization and its initiatives and goals.

Smart major gift fundraisers facilitate their donors down the path to a gift. They are always gently leading in a certain direction.

This way you won’t get lost forever in social talk. You’ll be able to move the donor toward a gift conversation.

In the Major Gifts Coaching Intensive we provide you with strategies to master this discipline and make sure we use role plays to practice so you don’t walk away unprepared. Join us!

Superpower #2: Successful Major Gift Fundraisers Actively Listen to Find Out Their  Donor’s Interests.

Too many fundraisers worry about what to say.

They worry that the donor will ask a question they can’t answer. They fret that they’ll run out of conversation topics.

Our advice is: turn around and head the other way. Stop talking!

Your job when visiting with donors is to do reconnaissance. You want to find out what your donor is most interested in. Most of all, how passionate are they about your cause? How motivated are they to give?

If you’re doing all the talking, then you’ll never find this out. It’s actually up to you to find out what makes your donor tick.

And once you know your donor’s interests, passions and hot buttons, you’re on your way to making your donor really happy – AND closing a major gift.

Conversation techniques are a critical skill for any major gift fundraiser. If you’d like to master these techniques – join our 2023 Major Gifts Coaching Intensive. We’ve just opened applications for our class. 

Superpower #3: Successful Major Gift Fundraisers are Confident.

Sometimes it may be easy to feel a bit like a supplicant when you are with a VIP donor. They may even intimidate you.

But confidence is a major superpower.

You have an important job to do, and the donor knows it. That’s why she’s talking to you.

So be open and direct. We never want to assume that we know what a donor is thinking. So you be bold and ask, “May I clarify what you just said?”

When you convey confidence in yourself and your work, then you show up as genuine and authentic.

Confident people have good manners, and they are gracious to everyone. They know their stuff. What’s more, they are calm and unruffled.

All of these qualities put your donor at ease. Then you build trust. Most importantly, you are creating an authentic human relationship with your donor.

Bottom Line: Having Superpowers Isn’t Out of Reach.

These superpowers are easier said than done, we know. We have been there. But we developed these traits and it has paid off in spades.

And we have helped hundreds of other major gift officers develop and hone these superpowers as well, through our Major Gifts Intensive Coaching program..

If you’d like to be a superhero fundraiser, be sure to consider joining! You can learn more about it here. Applications are open now and close February 24.

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