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August 10, 2016

Conscious Capitalism Fundraising for Chapters

Agenda

1.  For Profit vs. Nonprofit Financing 2.  Nonprofit Approaches 3.  Generating Donations 4.  Selling an Impact

Section 1.

For Profit vs. Nonprofit Financing

For-Profit Approaches to Financing

1.  Investment – Someone provides capital in exchange for equity with the hope (although not a guarantee) that they receive a financial return on their investment.

2. Goods & Services – Customers provides capital in exchange for a good or service.

Note: While there are other ways to generate revenue, we will leave them aside here.

Nonprofit Approaches to Financing

1. Donations – Someone provides capital in exchange for the hope (although not a guarantee) that they receive a return on their investment in terms of impact.

2. Goods & Services – Customers provides capital in exchange for a good or service.

Goods & Services

•  Both for profits and nonprofits can sell goods and services to customers

•  For profits and nonprofits can sell the same goods and services to customers

•  For profits and nonprofits can sell the same goods and services to customers and generate the same excess revenue from the sale (i.e. what is called profit in the for profit sector)

Investments vs. Donations

Investments •  Provide control over

capital to someone else to use for productive purposes

•  Expected return •  Financial (& •  Impact)

•  Equity •  Taxed

Donations •  Provide control over

capital to someone else to use for productive purposes

•  Expected return • Not Financial • Only Impact

•  No equity (by law) •  Tax-deductible

Take-away: Donations to nonprofits are what investments are to for-profits.

Conceptualizing Donations

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Conceptualizing Donations

•  Donations are tax-deductible contributions of capital from one party to a nonprofit organization to provide the nonprofit with the resources it needs to carry out its mission and have a greater impact.

•  Many nonprofits are built upon a model analogous to for-profits that continually seek investment support

•  Many investors ~ many donors

•  One big investor ~ one big donor

Section 2.

Nonprofit Approaches

It’s All About Relationships

• When writing a letter to 1,000 people, remember that you are writing it individually 1,000 times

• When trying to receive support from an institution, remember that individuals make the decision at the end of the day

• When making an ask of any individual, it is your relationship with them that will determine the success of your effort

Think About the Individual

• When writing a letter to 1,000 people, remember that you are writing it individually 1,000 times

• When trying to receive support from an institution, remember that individuals make the decision at the end of the day

• When making an ask of any individual, it is your relationship with them that will determine the success of your effort

Chapter Goods & Services

Here are some common items sold by chapters to customers:

1.  Memberships (as a value for value trade)

2.  Events 3.  Books 4.  Exclusive online

content 5.  Others

Chapter Donations

There are 6 principal strategies to receive donations:

1.  Personal Solicitation (for major gifts) 2.  Corporate Sponsorship 3.  Foundations 4.  Events (specifically designed as

fundraisers) 5.  Direct Mail 6.  Online

Personal Solicitation

X ✔

Concept: Ask an individual to contribute a major gift to the chapter to support your activities during an in person meeting (most preferable), phone call (second most preferable), or email (least preferable) Note: This is about developing a relationship with someone and working together to advance the mission.

Corporate Sponsorship

Concept: Ask a corporation to contribute to the chapter to support its efforts, either with financial or in-kind resources. Note: Corporate sponsorship is similar to personal solicitation except the interests and objectives of the corporation may be different from the interests and objectives of the individual who is your point of contact there.

Foundations

Concept: Submit proposals to grantmaking foundations that are interested in supporting your community’s growth. Types of Foundations to Seek Out:

1.  Begun by successful local businesspeople 2.  Interested in local economic development 3.  Supportive of capitalism in your area

Events

Concept: Organize a fundraising event for the chapter. Types of Events:

1.  Conference 2.  Auction 3.  Dinner 4.  Reception 5.  Luncheon

Note: Fundraising events don’t have to include 100+ people. Sometimes, a 12 person fundraising dinner may be more successful than a 200 person auction.

Direct Mail

Concept: Send physical letters out to individuals who are likely to be interested in your work and ask them to make a donation. Notes:

1.  This sounds old-fashioned and backwards, but it still works.

2.  Longer letters do better than shorter letters. Even if they don’t read it, they see that you’ve put effort into it.

3.  Make it as personal as possible. Develop a relationship with someone you have never met.

Online

Concept: Ask people to donate to the chapter via an online platform (such as razoo.com, causes.com, causevox.com, indiegogo.com, kickstarter.com, gofundme.com, etc.) or through an email campaign. Note: Online fundraising is very difficult, and is most successful when there is a timely urgency to the request. The most successful online fundraising organizations are disaster relief efforts.

Section 3.

Generating Donations

3 Step Process

Step 1: Generate Leads

Step 2: Ask

Step 3: Report

It may sound easy, but it takes a lot of work.

Step 1: Generate Leads

• Generating leads is about identifying individuals and organizations who are the most likely/best potential donors to your chapter and how to get in touch with them.

• The kind of individuals and organizations who are most likely to support you can be summarized in two words: Conscious Capitalists.

Finding Leads

You can find leads for your chapter through several approaches: 1.  Organize Events – Attendees are potential

supporters. Plus: they have already expressed an interest.

2.  Outreach – Attend other events that are similar to CC.

3.  Media – Place stories about CC in the media to attract attention from potential supporters.

4.  Research – Use the internet to find local businesspeople and philanthropists whose interests align with CC.

Step 2: Ask

• The most important rule in fundraising: The number 1 reason people will give is because they were asked. The number 1 reason people won’t give is because they weren’t asked.

• Analogy to investments: You are not asking for a handout. You are giving people the opportunity to invest in your work to make an impact in elevating humanity through business in your area.

Content of the Ask

• Conscious Capitalism’s vision is a world where business is and is recognized as the greatest force for good. Donations to your chapter will help you bring this vision into reality.

• Provide information on your chapter’s programs & initiatives to help bring this about.

• Focus on results. If you receive a donation, what will you use it for and how will that help change the world?

Step 3: Report

• After someone has made a donation, you need to continuously communicate with them. Thank them over and over. And provide updates on how their donation is being used to have an impact.

• For-Profit Analogy: The same way that most companies produce regular reports for their investors, you as a nonprofit should produce regular reports for your donors.

Types of Reporting

The kind of reporting you provide and the amount of work you put in will vary based on the size of the chapter and donation, but may include:

• Sending a handwritten thank you card • Producing annual or quarterly reports • Sending monthly/weekly e-newsletters • Making a phone call several times a year • Meeting with the individual for lunch or dinner to provide updates and get their input.

Section 4.

Selling an Impact

Challenge

“It’s one thing to sell a product or service to a customer – you are able to articulate a clear value for them to justify their purchase. It’s another thing to ask someone to invest in a company where they will have equity and expect a financial return in the future. It’s quite another to ask someone for a donation where the only thing they can expect in return is some abstract “impact.” How do you do that?”

Challenge

“It’s one thing to sell a product or service to a customer – you are able to articulate a clear value for them to justify their purchase. It’s another thing to ask someone to invest in a company where they will have equity and expect a financial return in the future. It’s quite another to ask someone for a donation where the only thing they can expect in return is some abstract “impact.” How do you do that?”

Response: It’s all about purpose

•  If people support your higher purpose and believe that you have a strategy that can turn that purpose from a dream into a reality, you will be able to generate donations. - It’s why people buy certain brands - It’s why investors are supporting impact investing - It’s why the nonprofits generate billions of dollars in donations each year

Conscious Capitalism’s Vision

To create a world where business is and is recognized as the greatest force for

good.

We Are Capitalists

Over the past 200 years:

● Extreme poverty, living on less than $1/day, has declined from 85% to 16% and is still declining.

● Average income increased 1,000%. ● Life expectancy has more than doubled from 30 to 68

years. ● Most of humanity used to be illiterate. The world literacy

rate today is 84%. ● A world that Malthus thought could only handle hundreds

of millions now includes 7 billion.

Strategy of Social Change

Step 2: Support

Step 3: Generate Content

Step 4: Advocate

Step 1: Outreach

Strategy of Social Change

Alexander McCobin alexander.mccobin@consciouscapitalism.org

www.consciouscapitalism.org

Questions or Thoughts?