Nourish Chapter Leaders, 
 
With less than 3 days left in the Nourish International Giving Challenge, I thought it may help to offer some personal tips from me as Executive Director. Many of you are participating in the Giving Challenge. Even if your Chapter is not participating, the below fundraising tips should be helpful on other fundraising efforts too. 
 
I know your Chapters are working so hard this month and I am deeply impressed by how much money each of you has raised. Over $50,000, WOW. You are already amazing fundraisers! Thank you all for your remarkable hard work. 
 
Check out my additional tips for you below. Forward to your Chapter too. The cat pictures should get a few chuckles. 
In deep admiration, 
 
Kelly
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FUNDRAISING ACCORDING TO KELLY 
 
Run for your lives! 
 
Cat images for comedic relief... 
 

Fundraising is no easy feat, even for professionals like me. I have to raise over $400,000 a year for Nourish International, and I can personally assure you, I have seen it all. From making a fool of myself in front of NC's wealthiest, to rocking a pitch, I've been there. You have to take it all in stride. Fundraising is all about putting yourself out there, facing down rejection, asking as many people as possible, and keeping a strong joy for your mission in mind. 

 
Here's the best tips I can share from my many years on the front lines of fundraising:
 
1. Psych yourself up. You cannot raise a dime if you don't BELIEVE you can. Fake it till you make it folks. Yes, you are super cat. 
 
I like to play pump up music before I go into an ask meeting. In fact, everyday I get ready for the work day to a pandora station titled 'epic movie soundtracks.' You would be surprised how much the score to Pirates of the Caribbean gets you going! Stare in the mirror and repeat out loud, "What I'm doing is remarkable. I am going to rock this ask, they are going to love our mission." See yourself as a success and they will too.This energy is going to infect your peers and donors in a great way. 
 
2. Be prepared and organized. You have to have, or appear like you have, your shit together. Channel your inner Hermione Granger, minus the know- it- all attitude from books 2-5. Have a template email that is grammatically correct, a fact sheet on your program/project, a direct link to give that works, and a really clear communication plan with talking points. Keep it simple and easy for the potential donor to give.
 


3. Confidence. It would be outrageous for you or anyone else to doubt that making a donation to your mission or project isn't going to be one of the best decisions of their entire life. I like to take a few minutes when I'm feeling less confident to think about the work we do and the people we partner with. I remind myself that this work is 100% necessary, real, and urgent, and I have to give others the opportunity to be a part of it. 
 
(This is how sly and confident you should appear. Don't you all want to buy a cowboy hat and aviators now?)
 
4. Follow up, a lot, but be nice. Follow up on your emails with a call or email every week. Try different methods. Be super nice to the person you are following up with. You should keep following up until they basically say, "No, leave me alone you crazy person." If you aren't pissing just a few people off, then you are not being diligent enough in your follow up.They will eventually surrender...
 


5. Everyone is a target. Yes, this is sad to admit, but everyone in your life is a prospect. Friends, family, fools. That is the saying, folks.  Build a huge list and continue working it. Assign likelihoods of giving, start with the highest likelihood people first. When a little bit of shame starts to creep in, go back to tips 1 through 4 in this email and start over. You will find that when people do give, and invest in your work, they actually get a lot of joy out of helping you. The worst thing that can happen is they say no. 
 
6. Don't think that if you just ask a few people and sit back that you will actually raise a dime. You have to hustle people. I would make sure you are working your list, following up, and publicizing your campaign on all social media daily. The steady communication is what gets gifts. Donors often need to see something several times, and in many media types, to respond. At the National Office, our rule of thumb is 6 different interactions with donors. 
 


7. Celebrate everything. If your goal was $5,000 and you raise $2,000, then celebrate $2,000 like you would $5,000. Each dollar matters. Each donor matters. At the end of the day, it's about the relationships and the joy of supporting something like Nourish. While goals challenge us, they can also limit us and let us off too easy. Your goal is infinity or something equivalent. So do the best you can to hit a goal, but don't let it run you down. Our work is urgent and needs so much support, each gift is worthy of celebration. Within your Chapter, recognize every student who raises funds, thank every donor, and rock out the end of the Giving Challenge, whether you are #1 or #30. Then keep going. The key is to continue in the journey to connect others to our work. If enough people wake up one day and decide that they want to create a world free from extreme poverty, then it will happen folks.
 
No, I mean really celebrate- the image above is cheating....
That's more like it!
-Kelly Pheonix