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We Are For Good Podcast - The Podcast for Nonprofits
661. Working Session: Closing Major Gifts with Courage with Julie Ordoñez
00:19:32
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- [00:03]
A
Okay. It's giving season, so if you want to close major gifts in the next five weeks, this is the working session for you. We brought in Julie Odonez. She's the founder of Courage Lab. She's a major gifts coach. We're diving in with her of who do you ask? What do you say? And of course, you know, we're going to go for it. How do we ask for more? I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to working sessions on the We Are For Good podcast. In every session, we're tackling one essential topic and give you practical steps to take meaningful action within your mission. Today, we're bringing you the experts and playbooks to help you move forward with clarity and confidence. Let's get to work. Julie, it's always so good to see you. Welcome.
- [00:47]
B
Thanks so much for having me. Great to see you. John. Back again.
- [00:51]
A
I mean, my gosh, yes. And I mean, we're in, like, the most generous season of the year. We gotta have a grounded, relational first approach to major gift strategy. And honestly, my friend, you have always cut through the noise for us. I feel like you're so attuned to how can we show up with more courage? How can we actually move relationships forward? And so I was so excited to bring you in and like, talk about major gifts in a very practical, tactical. All the other rhyming words since. Because it's a goal. Please drop in the links if there's other words that would rhyme, because I'm out of them. So, I mean, friend, as we think about getting mobilized around major gifts in year end, I mean, we got to start with the who. Like, who are we asking? Who should we be thinking about asking? How do we get to that answer?
- [01:39]
B
Yes, everybody ask this question. It's a totally fair question. And our fundraisers and people who are listening. Right? You're an inclusive group. Right? We. We want to. We. We're thinking about everybody. We're thinking. We're thinking. We gotta. We gotta reach everybody. So here's the deal. Stop doing that, okay? You're stressing yourself out.
- [02:04]
A
I feel very exposed to overwhelming yourself.
- [02:07]
B
Right. So put some focus around your fundraising. If you need to raise money in a short amount of time, you've got to focus. So the first question that I'm thinking about when I'm thinking about, who are the donors? Who are the people that I could go to in the next five weeks, let's say that would be most primed to give right away, that it wouldn't be a total shock. I'M not going to ruin the relationship, right? I'm not going to be completely out of left field. Who are the donors? Who are the people? So first thing, and if you're listening, get out a pen and a paper baby, okay? You need to write this down.
- [02:57]
A
It's a working session. Like this is made for this moment. Let's go.
- [03:01]
B
And also, I have a PDF for you in case you want to walk through this guide. It's called the Opportunity Brainstorm. It's a way to help you generate a list of warm prospects and warm leads right away so that you can focus on who, where are the greatest opportunities. So the first part of it is write down. I want you to think about anybody in the last six months, even 12 months, if you got a great memory. Okay, good. Good for you. But let's say last three to six months, you have heard someone say something like this. Hey, John, love what you're doing over there at ABC Nonprofit. You know, let me know if you need anything. Let me know if you need help. Hey, I'm here to help you. Just let me know what you need, anything along those lines that you can recall. Write their names down right now. Write them down. Those are the people who are warm prospects. They are not just being nice. They are not just being polite. Maybe, maybe a small percentage, maybe they are being nice. Okay, maybe they don't really mean it, but for the most part, John, most people who offer that they actually mean it, they're not saying it out of obligation. They're not saying this because of someone's expectations. They are genuinely expressing support. Take them up on it. Stop telling yourself the story that nobody cares, that nobody's willing to step up, that you're the only one and you have to put more and more on your own plate and wear more hats and how many more objects are we going to talk about? Plates and hats and spinning and wearing. And I'm like, good grief, spread the love. People want to help. And, you know, maybe there are one or two or three, right, who might just be saying that. But the vast majority of people who've offered it recently, whether you ran into them at an event, maybe they came to your gala, maybe you saw them somewhere, maybe you saw them at the grocery store. Maybe they play soccer with your kids, maybe they go to church with you or synagogue, maybe they. Wherever, I don't know, they walk around your neighborhood, Y' all go to the same coffee shop. Yeah, they said, oh, I love what you're doing. You know, would love to get more involved or let me know what you need or anything like that? Write their names down. Those are your warm prospects. Stop the guessing games. Stop telling yourself that people don't want to help and actually take them up on it.
- [05:48]
A
I mean, I love it because that's a very direct signal. It's like, it's all about listening. How are we engaging in conversations, listening for those signals? That's very direct. It's like they're literally like, giving you a flag, like, hey, I'm over here ready to help in some way. Is there anybody else that you would look out from? Maybe their history of giving or anything like that? Or are you just working off gut in the sense of, like, okay, I know these people are warm. Are there other signals that we should think about?
- [06:14]
B
So there's people who are what I would call your raving fans. There are people on social media. If you're on there, right, then you give them a chance to respond to content that either your nonprofit is posting or you, as a professional are sharing some of your thoughts that are liking and commenting and sending you encouraging words. Maybe they're email subscribers who are responding and saying, great email. Keep up the great work. Right? Or people who have offered to help. If that's volunteers or board members, people who've said, hey, like, if you want me to do XYZ thing, go with you on a meeting, make an introduction, host something in my home, or, hey, I'd be happy to have a meeting with some of my partners at work. It couldn't be anything along those lines. But the folks who you know, either they're in your corner personally, like, they believe in you and the work that you're doing, and they believe in the mission and that you specifically are doing it. Who is in your corner? Write those names down right now. And who are the people who are raving fans? The people who are typically publicly encouraging and expressing their support somehow that it's in writing. There's no mystery. It's like, okay, if I were to write down my raving fans and my clients and I have done this, We've done this inside courage Lab. I put. I say put in the chat, how many people. What's the number so far of raving fans? And it's like 2312, 32, 17. Boom. There you go. It's not a mystery. Just write down who your warm prospects are, right? The folks who've offered help, the folks who are raving fans. And then in terms of giving history, sure, I'd look at people who give dafts I'd ask them for more. I'd look at people who have a loyalty of giving three years or more consistently. I would ask one time donors to become monthly donors, recurring donors. I'd ask loyal donors to give an end of year gift, to give a larger amount. I mean I could go on and on. John.
- [08:35]
A
Yeah, yeah, this is good. I mean the only thing that I want to take issue with is that around we are for good. We call them rabid fans, not raving fans. They are all in. And this honestly I hope lowers our blood pressure. We're not asking somebody cold, we're not asking somebody that's going to be shocked. They're probably going to be honored that you ask. And I want to get into like what do we say? But you're so gifted at this, Julie. Like how do we need to hype ourselves up from a mental capacity to walk in to having these conversations? What would you say to us in preparation for the what. What do we need to work on within us for these talks?
- [09:13]
B
Yeah, it's such a good question, John. And this is typical. And if you're afraid of asking for money one to one, face to face, even if it's over email, you're not alone. Stop judging and criticizing yourself. It's okay. It's normal. It's normal. And many of us are taught to never talk about money with anyone. That it's rude and I totally get that. And it's. And money is also can be, you know, emotional. So I get it. Right. And you're not alone. Courage is taking action when you are afraid on behalf of others. You literally cannot be courageous if you're not taking action. So another way to say that is the only way to know you're courageous is, is if you act. And so thinking about it, preparing, planning, strategizing, researching, studying, learning are all procrastination tactics. You just haven't leveled with yourself. Hey, actually I'm afraid, I'm afraid I'm going to look like a fool. I'm afraid to be embarrassed. I'm afraid to sweat through my, my blazer. Basically it's not about you. You didn't get into this work so that you, you weren't ego driven when you decided to do this. So why now are you letting your ego drive if you are allowing your discomfort or feeling like you're not an expert yet and that's why you haven't made the ask. Usually what that sounds like is folks saying to me, well I need more time to build the relationship with this donor. No you don't. You've been building the relationship for a year. Or if you're new in your role, the relationship has existed with this donor before you showed up. So even though you're new to the donor, the donor isn't new. Right. It is not a new relationship. Be willing to do it uncomfortable. Be willing to do it with a pit in your stomach. Be willing to stutter over your words. Be willing to have sweaty hands. Be willing to experience wanting to throw up. Because guess what? That's what everybody did who came before you. And you envy their results. They went through the discomfort of straight up asking. They did that. And the good news is, the more reps that you get in, the better you will get at this and the easier it will get. And your ceiling will become your floor.
- [11:57]
A
Julie O. Holy heck. I mean, you're naming all of us. Mine's the pit in the stomach, and I fear it. It's like, how do we get past that? You're naming it. Courage is actually taking the step. It's not planning, but this is working sessions. So, y', all, this whole design of this kind of minisode kind of format is to get us to feel like, okay, we know what to do. It's time to, like, get into action. What do you say? We've identified the person we've worked on ourselves within. Where would you say, how do. How does this conversation go? What do you actually say?
- [12:29]
B
So I would suggest asking for a specific amount. Here's why. Because when you're vague and you say really weak language like, can we count on you this year? Don't do it. Don't do that. The people who are direct, you can still be kind. You can still be respectful. You can still have your personality and your sauce on it, right? But you can be a bit more direct. You will save yourself so much time. There's no guessing games. And when you ask for a specific amount now, you're moving the conversation forward faster because the donor doesn't have more homework to do. You've made it a bit easier for them. If you say something like, hey, we need support this year. Can we count on you now? They have no clue how much support you need. They have no clue what other people like them are doing. They have no idea that they're like, okay, they're probably thinking, I would like to donate. I mean, how much should I give? I don't even know. What do they need? What's. What's the right thing to do here? Ah, I don't know. I'm busy. I have so much to do. And they move on with their life. And they kick the can down the road, not because they don't want to give, but because they have homework to do. And right now they have urgent, pressing matters, and they're going to put off that homework till you follow up with them for the fifth time. So ask for what you want. If you don't know how much to ask for, ask for more. And if you heard two or three donors say, hey, I've had to lay off staff, hey, you know, times are. Have been tough, or this year wasn't really. Didn't really turn out how I had hoped. Do not prescribe that to your entire list. Stop doing this. I've literally been there. And a big piece of success in this work is managing your own mindset and your emotions. It's like, that's one person, right? It's not everybody. Stay focused on the next thing at hand. Ask for more friend.
- [14:37]
A
It's just. It's just so good because I feel like this about everything in life is if someone gives you a blank page to figure out a document, that's like torture, you know? But if you're like, hey, would you take a look at this and edit this? Thank you. This can take me two seconds. We want something to respond to. We want to know what the actual need is, and we're going to connect the dots for them. This makes so much sense. Thank you for calling out us are our own thing. We're bringing into this conversation because I brought my own scarcity about money, my own beliefs about money and into fundraising. And it is not helping anybody because it actually has nothing to do with what the mindset of your donor has, what you think about money or what you think about your own scarcity in your situation. So this is so good. You know, we're always going to distill and ask for a one good thing, but this is working session. So it's like, what is a working session? One good thing that you could kind of push around to say there's something you could really take action on today. Where do you channel that courage? Julie, what does someone do today, leaving this convo?
- [15:35]
B
Ask for more. Don't wait, don't put it off, don't do any more research, don't do any more preparing. Take action. Ultimately, you and your discomfort. And even if you make a mistake, even if you do overstep, ultimately you're not paying the price your community is. Every time that you don't take action, stop putting off what you need to do today. This is your responsibility. You can do this. And the key when you do mess up is to let your humility guide you. The root of courage is humility. And so because courage is I'm taking bold action and I'm not thinking about me. If you're new at this, your donors know you're not fooling anyone. They know you're uncomfortable. They're experiencing it. Right. Even if you're really good at hiding it. And so you can just say, hey, you know what, John? Last year you gave $5,000. Our goal is 500,000, and we're about halfway there. And honestly, I'm new at this whole thing. I don't even know how much I should ask you for. I'm still figuring this out. But I perceive you to be a generous person, and you've said in the past that you care deeply about this mission. What amount is a good amount for you? Would you consider giving more than you gave last year? What amount makes sense for you? I just gave you a ton of language. Hit the 32nd, rewind. Get your pen, Write it down. You know what to do. You can absolutely do this. And when you get it wrong, when you stumble, let your humility guide you.
- [17:30]
A
It always connects when you come on with humility like that, always.
- [17:34]
B
And. And I've used it so many different times, John, and it's never gone poorly where even if I. I upset somebody, I. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I'm so sorry. Like, I totally screwed up. You're right. And they're like, yeah, Julie, it's. It's okay. Like, it's fine. We're going to give. Like, I get it. And, you know, next time maybe do this right? And it's like, okay, got it.
- [18:01]
A
What if that's the worst thing that happens is, like, we grow and we learn and we have a great story to tell of the time that we did A, B or C. My friend, Love how you show up in this world as a coach. I feel empowered. I feel like, okay, we've got this. How can folks find you pointed out the best ways for people to connect with you? I know you were talking about a PDF earlier on. How do we get our hands on that? Talk about all the things.
- [18:25]
B
Yeah. So I got a code word for you if you DM me on LinkedIn. Julie Ordonez. O r d o n e z DM me the words Breakfast burrito.
- [18:40]
A
My love language. How did you know that?
- [18:42]
B
Right? I love breakfast burritos.
- [18:44]
A
Oh, my gosh. So good.
- [18:45]
B
And, oh, they're so good. I could go for one right now, actually. DM me on LinkedIn breakfast burrito. I'll send you this free opportunity brainstorm right away. It'll give you all of these prompts of who exactly to focus on even more than what I shared today on this episode. Right. Like, there's lots of different categories, and it'll give you clear focus on what to do next. So the feedback I've been getting is it's been really helpful. And, yeah, that's. That's where you can find me. I hang out on LinkedIn, you know, I love it there. It's fun.
- [19:23]
A
Thank you for how you show up for others. Thank you for giving me more courage in this life. And I'm giving you a fist bump. Such a good time.
- [19:29]
B
Thank you so much for having me, John. I appreciate you.