Finding New, Major Donors - with Judy Cook
Listen on iTunes, Spotify, or stream in your browser.
Show Notes:
In this episode of 7-Figure Fundraising, host Trevor Bragdon interviews Judy Cook, the Development Director at the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA). In her work for FGA, Judy manages the development staff and the organization's fundraising plan, and cultivates relationships with prospective donors. Before joining FGA, Judy was a part of the Freedom Foundation team in Olympia, Washington, working in communications and development. She has over 20 years of corporate telecommunication experience and is an expert at arranging meetings with hard-to-contact individuals. Currently, Judy is working with 7-Figure Fundraising to develop a class that is coming in September and focuses on finding new major donors for nonprofits.
Judy’s Background & Current Role
To start the conversation, Trevor asks Judy to share her background and how she got into fundraising. Judy has a background in sales, but she found her corporate experience to be unfulfilling. She transitioned from that field into nonprofit work and considered the new post a natural fit because of the similarities between sales and fundraising. The major difference - and what makes her new line of work fulfilling in a way sales was not - is that Judy is now working for a compelling cause.
At FGA, Judy is responsible for connecting with prospective donors to the organization. She thinks of the role in terms of building relationships. This mindset (along with her belief in her cause) takes away the fear of reaching out to new leads.
Judy also recommends that 1-2 people in an organization hold this role of working with major donors. Trevor explains how each member of their fundraising team follows a distinct role. As Judy clarifies, this arrangement ensures no overlap or question of territory; each person's responsibilities are clear, and the team functions as a unified whole. Theis fundraising setup is helpful for organizations and is specifically useful for CEOs in that it frees them from some of the typical follow-up work. The structure also allows each staff member to specialize in their unique area of fundraising.
Contacting Cold, Priority & Warm Leads
Moving forward in the conversation, Trevor dives into the specifics of the job of a connector. Judy says he first step in the task is to categorize donor prospects according to warm leads, priority leads, and cold leads. Warm leads are those leads with whom the organization already has a connection, such as a referral. Priority leads are at the top of the cold leads stack and are those 10-12 leads that the connector considers to have especially high potential. Cold leads are potential good fits but do not have connections with the organization yet.
Judy lays out the tiers and the different ways she, as a connector, relates to each donor category. With warm leads, Judy can take a burden from the CEO and manage those connections herself. After receiving a warm lead, the first step is to see if the prospect has capacity and is aligned with the nonprofit. Once she has completed initial qualifying research, Judy will reach out to each warm lead. She insists that a lead is never too old or cold to reach out to. Judy starts by sending an email with a simple introduction, touching on who the lead formerly met and why she is reaching out now.
About 30 percent of people respond to the first email, but it is essential to be persistent when people do not respond to the first message. Fundraising, even with warm leads, will generally take some work, and the key is to have a system in place and avoid making assumptions about someone's lack of response.
Moving more briefly to the categories of priority leads and cold leads, Judy explains the challenge of navigating priority leads and tells stories about her experiences with both priority and cold leads. Judy clarifies that the approach to each category of lead is similar, but there can be some slight differences in approach. For instance, with cold leads, Judy needs to explain more about her organization than she has to with warm leads. In other words, the process a connector follows is constant, but there are different nuances depending on the audience.
Setting Expectations When Prospecting
Trevor then asks what the most misunderstood part of donor prospecting is. Judy responds by clarifying for listeners that the process can take a long time - much longer than people might expect. While some expect results in a 3-6 month range, the task can take 6-18 months. However, even such lengthy work is worthwhile, and even limited donor relationships can grow over time to be relationships with major contributors.
Judy further explains that the most considerable mindset challenge for connectors is fear of rejection. This can be overcome by understanding that a straight "no" frees you to move on to other leads and remember that you are working for a cause rather than yourself. Her final pieces of advice are for listeners to be careful with a "no," and to note whether it is permanent or temporary. Also, have and follow a clear fundraising process within their organizations. As the episode concludes, Trevor speaks about a connector workshop available in September through 7-Figure Fundraising.
Key Takeaways:
0:21 - Trevor introduces listeners to his guest for the episode: Judy Cook.
1:05 - To start off the conversation, Trevor asks Judy how she got into fundraising and what her background is.
2:00 - Trevor and Judy consider what is most transferable from sales to fundraising.
3:25 - Trevor asks what a connector does and what makes the role unique.
5:25 - The duo addresses the value of this fundraising model for a CEO.
6:49 - Judy believes that thinking of the connector role in terms of relationship takes the fear out of cold reaching out.
7:43 - Trevor asks Judy to explain the work of a connector in managing and categorizing potential donors.
9:13 - There are three tiers of donor prospects to explore, and the first is that of warm leads.
11:53 - The question to ask when you have a business card in hand is, “Are they qualified?”
14:51 - Once her initial research is over, how does Judy actually reach out?
17:25 - Judy gives some hints about the process of connecting.
22:20 - Judy and Trevor transition to priority leads.
26:23 - The next category of leads to address is that of cold leads.
27:40 - Judy shares a story of connecting with a cold lead.
30:54 - The process looks largely the same, but carries different nuances.
32:04 - Trevor turns the conversation toward advice from Judy to listeners.
34:36 - What is the largest mindset challenge for a connector?
36:00 - Be careful with a “no.”
37:06 - Judy challenges listeners to have and observe a process.
38:30 - Trevor and Judy wrap up their conversation, and Trevor plugs the upcoming connector workshop.