{"id":584494,"date":"2016-07-20T17:21:19","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T21:21:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/?p=584494"},"modified":"2022-06-27T10:29:43","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T14:29:43","slug":"individual-giving-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/joangarry.com\/individual-giving-program\/","title":{"rendered":"A Foolproof Recipe to Start a Successful Individual Giving Program"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

When you work at a small nonprofit, or just a nonprofit with a very small development staff, life feels very rushed all the time.<\/p>\n

Who posts on social media? You do.<\/p>\n

Who updates the website? You do.<\/p>\n

Who writes the appeals? You do.<\/p>\n

And maybe you don\u2019t even have a development staff, and it\u2019s just you, the Executive Director, doing all the fundraising.<\/p>\n

When that happens just getting out one or two appeals a year can feel like a monumental task.<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s face it: sending out an appeal here and there with no planning or cultivation is not an individual giving program.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You are absolutely leaving money on the table.<\/p>\n

Maybe a lot of money.<\/p>\n

Depending on when you\u2019re reading this, perhaps the all-important holiday giving season is upon us. This is the time of year that so many people complete their charitable giving.<\/p>\n

If so, it\u2019s time to make sure you\u2019re better prepared for next year.<\/p>\n

But if there\u2019s still time before the holidays (and there are still four more months at the time I\u2019m writing this), this<\/em> is the perfect time to get going.<\/p>\n

Four months is plenty of time to implement the bones of a successful individual giving program.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m happy to show you my easy recipe to get your individual giving program off the ground and ensure a very happy holiday for your organization.<\/strong><\/p>\n

STEP #1: MAKE YOUR LIST AND CHECK IT TWICE (JULY – EARLY AUGUST)<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

They say the money is in the list. It\u2019s true.<\/p>\n

An organization\u2019s greatest asset as it begins an individual giving program is its email and snail mail database.<\/p>\n

(Need to build a bigger list? Here\u2019s some specific advice on growing an email list<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

Before starting to cultivate and solicit anybody in a systematic way, take the time to thoroughly review your mailing list. If you haven\u2019t had time to implement a true individual giving program, you might not have taken the time to recently review your list.<\/p>\n

You need to remove anyone who shouldn\u2019t be solicited through mail or email, but instead requires a personal solicitation. These names include:<\/p>\n