Fundraisers as a sales force

When approaching companies, the role of the fundraiser is to sell the cause and obtain income.

The professional fundraiser should:

Get Information - information on the company will help in showing some interest in the person and their employer when you see them. It will also give you an idea on how to fundraise within that organisation.
Create an idea of a presentation that deals with the values of that company, especially their community policies (especially statement.
Create a relationship that will last a long while. So that you can benefit from long-term support, which will be much more, cost effective.
To build business for the future. Building relationships will lead to foundations for the future. Remember companies have clients and suppliers.

Being a good personal seller

The "client" needs to trust you.

They need to trust:

That your organisation is worthy both in trust and cause.
That you will be able to come up with the goods.
You have a good track record as a successful fundraiser. People like to be associated with success.
That you are committed and enthusiastic about your charity and the fundraising
That you understand their own limitations

What you should think about:

Delivering the goodwill of the cause i.e. fundraising is not just about getting money but it is about giving people a reason for their money.
What things apart from money that you can ask for? Volunteers to do something specific? Someone to help type letters etc. Follow up work etc.
Can the company help you get your own supplies cheaper as they buy in bulk (they may be even able to get something free through their suppliers)? Perhaps you need some office space, or warehouse space. If they sell products, could you use them to fundraise?
Using the company to further communicate your message - to their clients? Their suppliers? Don't forget people who know you will be able to help you sell your charity if you have a good relationship with them.
Remember that the relationship will dictate how involved the person within the company or organisation is going to get with the charity. Of course the more the relationship expands the more possibilities there are. Imagine the areas that a large company could give to a charity. Fundraise, reduce costs, perhaps training, expertise, goods, further contacts etc.

My own experience is that to be able to truly get into a company and benefit from the employees, the professional fundraiser needs to have a reasonably long-term relationship with the company. By this I think that if you have no opportunity to extend the relationship beyond 1 year, you may find you are wasting time with some of the suggestions. Most companies will not take on charities for a long period of time, however if they want you, the professional fundraiser, to actually create successful fundraising activities within their organisation, it is only reasonable to have a relationship that will continue for 2-3 years.

Traits for fundraiser sales people

Perseverance. You need to see a job through from beginning to end.
A great diplomat. You need to be able to negotiate situations and read verbal and non-verbal communication.
Get on with others. It is important to be able to get along with a whole spectrum of people. Fundraisers deal with royalty, celebrities, and the ordinary person walking down the street. This is very important.
Loyalty. From an external viewpoint a 'client' will want to see that a fundraiser has confidence in the service and belief in the charity and what it is doing. It is recommended that HAS to come across because that is what is being bought in to - the belief that they are putting money into something which at the very least will change 'life' for the better.
Self-reliance. All fundraisers need to be self-reliant. They will have to be able to pull themselves out of situations and make decisions and have the confidence to do both. One thing to stress is that we don't all necessarily have all of these qualities and we have to go out and get help from friends and family and from employers. Charities need to be committed to their workforce a lot more than they currently are.
Empathy. Research by Mayor & Greensburg (1964) suggests that one of the fundamental quality traits required by a sales person (and I would agree for fundraisers) is the ability to feel the way a customer does. This is incredibly important for a fundraiser, you must be able to step into your potential client's shoes and think about what they want from the situation. It is very difficult because you are often not selling something tangible but rather a cause. Also because you believe in the cause so much yourself, it is sometimes hard to understand why other people can't see the same thing.
Persuasiveness. We need to be people who can change peoples' opinions, attitudes and behaviour but this means we must also be able to know when someone cannot be persuaded - preferably before they get annoyed! Sometimes it is actually better to be quiet and at other times it is necessary to put an opinion across.
Organisation. Obviously we need to be organised in our approach. Having said that no matter how prepared you are for a meeting you will find that you cannot have thought of everything. It is more important to listen at the first meeting and for example, have a set of questions so that you can ask, with some ideas or even show some past work that you have done. It is suggested that you turn up with information on the fundraising team and the charity. Carry a portfolio of past fundraising successes to illustrate any points you are trying to make in a meeting.
Resilience. This is the ability to bounce back and be cheerful when one has been demoralised! Fundraising, let's face it, is quite demoralising at times.
Motivation. This is very important. You need to be able to spur yourself on when there is no one around who can help you. Also there is great motivation in working in fundraising teams. It is good to cultivate a successful fundraising team where people learn off each other and bounce their ideas off one another.
Perfection. This can come across quite often in fundraisers. This is both a good thing and a bad thing. To be a perfectionist involves, usually, too much time, whilst on the other hand to not be perfect enough means you are probably not doing your job as well as you could. As with most things in life there needs to be a balance.

Conclusion

As we can see being a fundraiser-sales person requires flexibility, creativity, organisation skills and motivation, just to name a few. This fact sheet is designed to give you some ideas of what you should be looking at within your own self.

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