Over the years, I have seen
some things that have me scratching my head in regard to donations but the one
thing that always leaves me speechless, is when charities don’t go after
donations or only have very few.
So that everyone is aware,
when I say “Donations”, I am referring to items such as Gift Certificates, Gift
Baskets, Liquor, Coffee Makers, Services, etc.
Do you remember the famous
line from “Field of Dreams – Build it and they will come?” Well the same thing with donations “Ask and
they will give to you.”
Lets take for instance, the
Queens of Donations – Lt. Jennifer Krauss and Cpl. Julie Valdes (pictured to the left) from the Prince
George’s County Police Department. Last
year, Jen, Julie and I sat down and I started telling them about how to seek
and get donations. Now, remember, they
are no different from you who is reading this.
Just because they are Police Officers, does not mean they showed up in
uniform and businesses gave because of that.
No, it’s because THEY ASKED!!! You would not believe the amount of donations
they received – absolute TONS!!!
Everything from a Zero turn Mower, to Wine Tours, Gift Baskets, Guns
etc. They had everything you can
possibly imagine and their guests LOVED IT!!!
Jen told me she was addicted to asking and it became so much fun. Do like they do and ASK!!!
Here is the trick or the
Secret to getting tons, and I mean TONS of donations – Just Ask. Ask everyone!!! I use to make a joke when meeting with my
clients saying “Ok everyone, write this down, here is the list of what
donations we want”…everyone would get ready to write and then I would say “Large
or small, we will take it all!!!”
Go after them – go everywhere
and anywhere. Ask everyone. The secret to getting a million donations is
to get over the fear of failure. Get
over the fear of asking….that’s simply it.
Okay – you will hear No. You will
hear “Well, we need to send it to our Cooperate Office.” But keep on pushing. Another thing, when you walk into a business,
know what you want them to give you or what you want and ask for it.
Now – as a side bar, to
educate you more – donations are fantastic and yes they are 100% free, however,
they are best served in raffles at your event.
In silent or Live Auctions, they normally bring 1/2 if not less than
retail but in raffles, they bring 10 times retail.
Ok – so here is what you
simply need to know prior to going out on a treasure hunt.
#1 – Be prepared with a
Donation request letter, have one in hand.
It should have the Tax ID # otherwise known as the “EIN” at the top of
the letter.
#2 – Have the event Flyer
with you and also invite the people you are asking if they would like to come.
NOTE:
If they ask you for free tickets that equal their donation, say “No Thank you.”
Because if the tickets are worth $100.00 and their items only sell for $50, you
lose.
#3 – Understand that yes,
your charity is awesome, however they have probably been asked 100 times that
week – the key is to tell them how many people are planning to be at your event
– its ALL ABOUT MARKETING!!!
#4 – Yes, a donation is tax
deductible but in reality, business can only deduct so much each year – that’s
a falsehood to say “Well its tax deductible.”
That won’t sell them.
#5 – Remember, bigger is
always better. If you go into a store
which has large items, ask for a large item.
Always ask for more.
#6 – Marketing – Understand that
90% of the businesses you approach will be much more interested in the
marketing side than the charity side, tell them they will be listed in the
Event Program. They can also provide you
a “Banner” which will be displayed inside the event for everyone to see.
#7 – Ask them to post the
event flyer in their business. Ask them
if they would like to buy tickets or a table so that everyone can meet
them.
#8 – Gift Baskets – Gift Baskets
should be constructed LARGE, not small.
But even if someone gives you a small basket, take it.
So the Trick is - THERE IS NO TRICK!!! Just ASK!!!
So here is a script for you to
use, has always worked for me:
PREFACE – Inside my car, I
have a stack of Donation Letters and Event Flyers so that everywhere I stop, I’m
prepared.
So lets say I’m going to Home
Depot or Lowes (HINT) and I would like to get a Grill Donated or a Fire Pit
(HINT), I walk in and go right to the Service Desk and ask for the Store
Manager. Don’t talk to just anyone, talk
to the person in charge.
When they walk up, reach out
and shake their hand and say “Hi, I’m (Your Name) and I’m from the
(Charity). We are hosting a huge event
on (date) and we are getting local businesses to donate.” Immediately hand them the donation letter and
the flyer – and here begins your “Schpeel.”
We would love it if you guys could donate a Grill or whatever. There is going to be 800 people at our event
and everyone will see that you guys donated.
In fact, we will list you everywhere and if you have a banner, we would
love to hang it up for the world to see.” (KEEP TALKING as they look at the
letter and the flyer). “You guys should
come too. “
Then wait for their
response. If they say well what do you want,
tell them and go look and pick out something – ALWAYS GO BIG.
The secret is, get over
asking. You have to be confident in what
your saying. Tell them about the event,
how big it is, how many guests and that your event is going to have a Live and
Silent Auction and tons of raffles.
Be excited about it. If they say no, say thank you and move
on. Now, here is another little
trick. Do you know when you go to a
chain restaurant and something is wrong with your food..its lates, cold, or
there is a finger in your soup. The
manager walks over and hands you gift certificate and says “I’m so sorry, I
hope this helps.” The managers have a
pocket full of them – ASK!!!!
Ask everybody!!! Ask Liquor Stores, Beer Distributors,
Starbucks etc. If you have a friend who
is a landscaper, ask if they will donate services like a Spring Cleaning of
someones yard or mulch installation. If
you know a Power Wash company, ask if they will donate a house power
washing.
Now here is something else
that is VERY crucial to your success.
Guess who NEVER gets asked to donate?
Professionals such as consultants, banks, Doctors, Lawyers, Accountants,
Real Estate Agents etc. Professionals
who don’t have anything to donate!!!
Get a catalog of our items –
BW Unlimited Charity Auction Items and ask them to “Underwrite” or Sponsor an
item or items. All they can say is
No!!! If they do, they pick out the item
they want to “Underwrite” and we set up a tent card in front of the items
saying “Sponsored by ABC Realty, 1234 Smith Street, Smith, Texas.” And
then list them in the Catalog as well.
Now lets move on to a much
harder donation – Sponsors. For your
event, especially if it’s a BW Unlimited managed event, you will have a Sponsor
Page. This is a more personal
donation. This takes a sit down meeting
with people who are close to you or your charity. Now, the best people to ask for these are the
businesses you pay routinely – who your charity or you buy from, who does your
taxes, who is your lawyer, your trash service, your outside lawn maintenance
etc. Also remember, sell them tables
too.
So in summary, it’s all about
asking. The more times you ask, the more
you will receive. Be confident,
energetic and fun. Make it a game with
your committee, who can get the most donations.
If you have any questions,
contact BW Unlimited Charity Fundraising at www.BWUnlimited.com. To receive our catalogs of items, simply
contact us and ask for our catalogs, we would love to send you them.
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