Sara Hoshooley: Donor Strategies For Small Shops

Sara Hoshooley’s passion for fundraising began in 2009 at a small grassroots community development organization in Belize, Central America. While volunteering there, it became clear that the organization was in urgent need of funds to keep its doors open, and all the programs operational. Sara quickly developed a crowdfunding campaign (which was fairly new at that time!) and reached out to all of the past volunteers who had given their time to the organization. She leveraged these connections and also reached out to local businesses to explain the urgent need. Within weeks, the organization had raised well over their goal and Sara had fallen in love with fundraising. Upon returning to Canada, Sara continued to hold nonprofit volunteer, Board, and leadership roles and has since obtained certifications in Fundraising Management and Nonprofit Management from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).She has also received certification in Philanthropic Psychology from the Institute of Sustainable Philanthropy UK.  Key Takeaways:Release the outcome. Whatever will be, will be. You can be excited and hopeful about something while also being detached from the outcome, holding space for both thoughts. Give opportunity for the unknown to take place. Shift your language from talking about a person’s deeds to focusing on their identity. When thanking somebody for example, send a message that will emphasize who they are in relation to how they’ve supported you instead of just merely talking about the transaction. Your job is not to convince people, your job is to attract people who are aligned to your mission. Just like how a donor chooses what to wear and where to eat in order to show a side of their identity, they are also showing something about themselves whenever they align themselves with a nonprofit organization. You’ve got to honor the identity of people. Send out emails that give value using messages or stories that resonate with your audience. Your content has to be meaningful and engaging and not just a series of asks - focus on giving to your audience.  “I like to speak to not only [an organization’s] donors, but also their volunteers, board members, and staff, and ask them to tell me why they love the organization. What happens is that when we start to hear about our work through the viewpoint of other people, it reminds us why we're doing what we're doing.” “Rather than talking to a donor, about the donor's behavior - about what they did, talk about who they are.” “At the end of the day, if you're moving somebody to take action, it's because something resonated with them personally, and we can't lose sight of that.” - Sara Hoshooley Reach out to Sara Hoshooley at:Website: https://www.charityshift.ca/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahoshooley/ Ask for and receive all you want need and deserve without feeling rejected, ineffective, or pushy.  Learn to manage your mindset, lead yourself and others more effectively and have the meaningful conversations that drive your most important work.  Get your free starter kit today at www.theinfluentialnonprofit.com Book your quickie intro call with Maryanne here!  Connect with Maryanne Dersch: maryanne@courageouscommunication.com