How Should I Spend My Time This Summer? Part 2 (Busy Summer Season Regions)
Maybe you saw my first post offering advice to those saying 'see you later' to their region's donors, and if it didn't resonate, you might find yourself in an area saying 'welcome back' to donors (I see you, Newport, RI, Finger Lakes region / other sandy northeastern towns, and Denver, CO!).
It's time to put into action what you've been preparing for, and by action, you already know I mean in-person visits! Spend July through Labor Day with a focus on:
1. Securing individual visits around your constituents' busy summer schedules so you can do what you do best: understand what their philanthropic priorities have been this year, what motivates them to drive outcomes with their philanthropy, and how best to engage them with your organization while they're in town and thereafter. Face-to-face conversations should be at a place that's convenient for donors (their home, a favorite cafe for coffee), around the time of day that works best for their schedule, and be limited to about an hour. As always, ask a lot of questions.
Why? Because with every question you pose, you receive information to inform how you can best proceed. "Where have you been most involved in the last several years?" You'll get a sense of where they're spending their time and money. "Where have you been philanthropic that has felt the most fulfilling, or generated the outcomes you've desired?" You'll know what matters to them in this process of building a relationship and aligning support meaningfully. If you've already done all of this, make the ask you've been waiting to make in-person! Remember: solicitations are direct and specific (how much, allocation, timeline, and impact!).
2. Connecting constituents with one another through intimate gatherings. Let's offer our supporters the chance in a small, high-end setting to see and engage with one another, and hear from our leadership on what we've accomplished this year (some bragging!) and what we're planning for.
Why? There's nothing better than seeing who else cares about the same mission you do, and feeling like you're part of a special community in celebrating it. We keep the invites for these intimate gatherings small so everyone can have a conversation and so the follow-up is doable -- the cocktail parties are only as good & productive as the meetings that come thereafter! The real work happens in the 2 weeks following the gathering, with a set strategy for outreach and individual conversations with attendees. When 5 couples are in attendance, for example, you've presumably gotten to know them at the event and it's manageable to call them in the weeks following. Pro tip: ask an engaged individual or couple to host, making 2/3 of the invitees new to the organization and 1/3 familiar so you can mix!
3. Staying organized with who you've seen, what they've said, and what the next steps are by writing contact reports and filing them in the database. If you live in a busy summer town, you're probably working way more hours than you do all winter. In the slow months, you will really yourself (and each other as colleagues) if you document what's been happening all summer.
Why? It's nice to see your prospects and donors but it's hard to track when a lot of activity happens over 8- to 12-weeks. The goal is ultimately to make solicitations, so if you get to making those asks in the summer months, document exactly what happened and follow up in writing! This way, you can use slower months to get paperwork sorted out. If you didn't get to the ask and hope you can following summer engagement, be sure to document the details of your visits and next steps in the database to jog your memory around how you can further cultivate and solicit once fall and winter hit.
In summary:
You know it's your time to shine and it might feel overwhelming to try and see everyone over the summer -- but resist the urge to throw huge events and systematically prioritize outreach to secure individual visits. When possible, take advantage of small intimate gatherings to have cocktail parties hosted by people who know you (and who can invite people who don't know you yet!). Lastly, track this all in your database by documenting asks and visits -- it'll make the follow-up this fall and winter a whole lot easier!
