Fundraising Time Management Through C.P.D.

Determining Linkage, Ability, and Interest (LAI) via CPD

One of the major challenges a Major Gift Officer faces is the ability to identify a prospect’s purpose quickly and effectively. The problem is, that there is not enough time in between cultivating prospects and stewarding current donors while simultaneously performing strategic planning and reporting.

How can you find a balance between these crucial tasks?

It all boils down to time management. So, how do you efficiently segment your time?

The quickest way to manage your time is to find a way to qualify which of your selected constituents that you are cultivating fits the vision and mission of your organization. I refer to this as Constituent Persona Development or simply, CPD. If you are able to determine the CPD in relationship to your organization’s goal sets, you will not squander time providing additional personal touch points (direct communication) with those constituents that do not readily dovetail with the vision of purpose.

This 3-step CPD process involves constituent Linkage, Ability and Interest (LAI) Principles. As a Major Gift Officer, you may be aware of these basic fundraising best practices. However, let’s look at these principles from the unique Constituent Persona Development perspective to more readily identify and thus, target the right prospects with the highest potential for a success as a donor.

Determining CPD Profile balance of Linkage, Ability, and Interest (LAI)

According to afpnet.org, Linkage is defined as “a contract bridge or access through a peer to the potential donor”. In other words, if you can identify that this particular prospect has some form of an internal relationship, be it with your organization’s board, the CEO or other contacts, they are certainly accessible for an introductory meeting. They immediately possess the potential to enter the fundraising cycle within your organization and more than likely already match the CPD profile. 

The “L” of LAI: Planting the seed with “Linkage”

Linkage is the beginning stages of planting the right seed.  

One of the Homeowner’s Associations, which I worked for some time ago, expressed a great dissatisfaction concerning the performance of their current community management firm. However, the presiding association board was legally bound to abide by the 2-year contractual service agreement that was in place. Once the contract came to an end, the association’s board of directors initiated the process of reviewing proposals from competitive management firms and eventually voted on a replacement firm to serve the community – effectively ousting the current management firm.

After the dust settled, I was able to quiz the board president as to how he determined that the new management firm was, in fact, the right fit for his community. I discovered that he had established a relationship with the new management firm’s business development director 3 years prior. Even though the newly contracted firm was not successful in acquiring the contract the first time they introduced their company, it did not dissuade them from continuing to nurture a budding relationship by remaining in touch. Their simplistic strategy was to provide resourceful information and offer voluntary support for the board – solving problems and making their job easier. Through a focused strategy of successful Linkage, they were able to cultivate and recapture their prospect. Thus, winning the contract. This is a successful case study of not only expertly taking advantage of their existing linkage, but also defining their ability and displaying a strong interest in their prospect – which in the end sealed the deal.

This case study also provides a path to a lower attrition ratio by re-enforcing the fact that it takes less time to nurture a current CPD profile with Linkage, than to cultivate a new prospective constituent lacking specific Linkage. By maintaining a consistent pool of linked CPD profiles with which to provide consistent personal touch points will result in a considerably lower attrition rate.

The “A” of LAI: How to determine the “Ability” of a prospect?

In the non-profit world of philanthropy, “Ability” refers to the financial viability of a prospect as it relates to your organization’s Constituent Persona Development profile. Does he/she/they possess the monetary liquidity to donate in a form of cash or an in-kind gift which syncs within your organization’s mission?

Another case in point, was another company, with whom I was employed as Director of Business Development, had initiated the launch of a business franchise offering. Our requirement, or persona development profile, was that the prospect had prior experience owning a business within a related field of our business franchise. Furthermore, they had to exhibit that almost undefinable, bootstrap mindset of an entrepreneur.

Once we began the inbound marketing ‘funnel process’, one of the challenges we soon discovered about the majority of our prospects was that, despite meeting the criteria (CPD profile) required to own and run a successful business franchise, they were overly concerned about the initial franchise cost.

It’s a crucial fact, that first one or two years of starting a new business, you will need to anticipate a sufficient cash flow to pay the bills and promote the business. This start-up cash flow is imperative to carry you through to the second-year mark when you should begin to see a trickle of return on your investment (ROI).

The majority of our franchise offering prospects realized the value and had the desire of business ownership, but lacked the monetary liquidity or the financial stability to separate themselves from the consistent paycheck afforded them on a regular basis by their current employer. They just couldn’t take that leap of entrepreneurial faith that was esoterically required by the CPD profile.

Looking at the above franchisee CPD profile as an example, use your organization’s goal-sets as a compass to determine what are the financial viabilities (monetary liquidity) that needs be a requirement within the persona of your prospects. Despite, a great connection (Linkage) and high interest from your prospect, it is safe to say that they should not be on your priority list of personal touch cultivation if they, in fact, lack the capability needed to support your organization financially. Therefore, in order to better segment your time and more efficiently focus your fundraising efforts, measure all prospective donors against the yardstick of your CPD profile.

Of course, we should continue to nurture all prospective donors, regardless of ‘Ability’, which maintains our prospect pool, further lowering attrition rates. Should their financial circumstances change, then their contribution will be greatly appreciated.  The added boon to maintaining contact with prospects not meeting the CPD profile, is their ‘Linkage’. Meaning, they may not be financially viable yet, but the friends, relatives, and associates they refer to you and your organization, just maybe.

The “I” of LAI: How to determine the “Interest” of a prospect?

When the heart goes, the mind follows.

A prospective donor who is already interested in your organization’s mission has a much higher CPD profile than one who has not yet heard of you or considered your mission. This is where a “Donor Centric Strategy” is best applied. Your prospect has already developed a passion for your mission. There is no limit to the measurement of the human emotions and a willingness they may have to become involved in your organization at some level. This greatly assists you in developing a specific donation strategy ‘centered around the donor interest’ (Donor Centric Strategy) allowing you to solicit for gifts according to their type and level of desire.

Think of Donor Centric Strategy when compared to standard fundraising practices, as the difference between getting a custom suit measured by a tailor or simply buying a suit off the store rack.

I have attended many fundraising conferences and one thing that I have consistently observed was how closely the donors’ level of interest equated the degree to which they were emotionally connected to the organization’s cause. These donors attending the organizational events are quite keen on wanting to make a huge impact and, be there firsthand to see the results of their contribution for that cause.  It’s almost like the chef who spies through the kitchen door to see the delight on the diner’s face as they take the first bite of their culinary creation.