Some 90% of potential donations are lurking underwater, where they’re never uncovered or cultivated by fundraisers who are too solidly locked into their own silos of planned giving on the one hand (in rowboats) and direct marketing on the other (in submarines without periscopes).

The ever-colourful Fraser Green, Principal of FLA Group, brought this message to the Greater Toronto Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals at its annual Congress.

“Silothink,” he says, “is oldthink. Silothink is slow and cumbersome. Silothink looks inward. Silothink ‘covers ass’. Silothink is a loser.”

The opposite of silothink, he says, is “seamless”. “Seamless is new. Seamless is responsive. Seamless looks at the donor first. Seamless is brave and selfless. Seamless wins.”

To meld the two approaches to fundraising, suggests Green, gift planners need to cast a wide net instead of a hook, thinking about thousands of prospects rather than a few hundred. Direct marketers, on the other hand, need to see the potential to catch large fish, winning $20,000 gifts from existing $35 donors. 

In other words, gift planners need to learn to use direct marketers’ tactics while direct marketers need to learn to use major gift and planned giving strategies.

Green offers fundraisers nine “iceberg principles” and nine steps “to help you understand the iceberg, see its potential, tap its wealth, transform your program, and get there before your competition.”

The first “principle” is: think BIG, really, really BIG, ie lots of prospects and huge gifts.

Research shows that 80% of direct mail donors are 55+, only 10% work full-time, they grew up before TV, they’re two-thirds female, and their nests are empty. They have average education and modest income, are “white bread”, attend church, and support 10 or more charities.

Where the “hidden gold” comes in, says Green, is looking not at the average household income of $55,000 or the average direct marketing gift of $30, but at the average net worth of $350,000 and the average bequest of $20,000.

Most of them know they can leave gifts in their will and most of them have made wills, but a much smaller percentage have included a bequest in that will or are planning to do so, because, he says, they’ve never been asked. “That’s a big honkin’ iceberg,” he notes.

Green’s second principle is that human beings are emotional beings, who make decisions based on the way they feel, then justify those decisions with the rational sections of their brains.

Third principle is that “relating is successful above the waterline – marketing gets to the bulk of the ‘underwater money’.”

Gift planners don’t reach out to enough people, he contends, and direct marketers need to go beyond the treadmill of acquisition/conversion/renewal/minor upgrade.

The fourth principle is that “it’s the will, stupid”, ie 90% to 95% of planned giving is contributed via a bequest, not by the various other complex vehicles the sector has created, consideration of which simply gives donors headaches.

Fifth, says Green, is “‘why’ gets the gift, not ‘how’.” Fundraisers need to share with donors their vision, passion, conviction, and inspiration, then let the donors figure out for themselves how they’re going to respond.

Sixth in line is the need to tell stories. “Great fundraising is great storytelling ... testimonials, legacy donor profiles, vision pieces, history, making the case.”

Seventh is urgency – because “civics”, today’s reliable donors, are dying off, and no one can count on the boomers to take their place, and because there’s so much competition for the fewer dollars.

Green’s eighth iceberg principle is that it’s not about the money. “It’s about ... heart, soul, footprints on the earth, passion, joy of living, meaning, human spirit, why we live, relationships, love, human duty.”

Finally, he looks to the Holy Trinity of commitment, open-ness, and life circumstance: “Jacqueline" (typical donor) believes in the cause, trusts its people to do great work with her money and stick around for 20 years or more; she is open to the idea of leaving a legacy gift; she can do so without compromising her obligations to the people she loves.”

The steps Green recommends fundraisers take to “bring iceberg philanthropy to life for you and your donors” start with committing to do something in the next year, assessing how much they can handle and how much their boss can handle, looking for allies and pointing to others’ successes.

Second step is to look for best prospects, especially among loyal supporters and those who make large gifts.

Next, they should “find a way to ask and listen”, engaging prospects in the work of the organization, asking for their help, and listening for their brand attachment, where the organization fits on their hit parade, their opinion on bequests, and their reaction to the agency’s materials.

Probably, the materials need to be changed, to ensure their content focusses on values, vision, mission, program, results, future needs, and credibility.

Again, fundraisers should ask for prospects’ input, asking whether the new material copy turns their cranks, how they can appropriately cultivate donors, how they should solicit/identify prospects, and how much/what type of stewardship they would want/expect. “The amazing thing? If you ask, they’ll tell you.”

The sixth step should be to ask prospects to self-identify as such, looking for the holy trinity of commitment, open-ness, and life circumstance.

Seventh, fundraisers should start cultivating and stewarding, probably by mail, as most prospects don’t even want a visit. Best is to send four to five cultivation pieces, three to four stewardship pieces. “Remember, PG strategy, DM tactics.” 

After about a year of cultivation, he says, it’s time for step eight, starting to solicit/identify. He suggests breaking prospects into four groups: expectancies – stewardship stream; actively considering – more cultivation; not active but open – occasional cultivation; just not interested – back to regular direct marketing.

Finally, fundraisers should assess their results to date and plan for a rollout, which would involve a stewardship plan for expectancies, cultivation plan for prospects, feeding new prospects into the system, selling success internally, getting the needed resources, breaking down the silos, and building on success.