An Action Plan

*Warning: It’s pretty easy to run down this list and blow off a number of these with a “We’ve already got this/done this” attitude.

If you’re truly committed to ENGAGEMENT… do these action steps to the best of your organization’s ability, in a timely fashion and as SIMPLY as possible.

1.) SIMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGE!

• Create a clear, concise and compelling MESSAGE… in order to ENGAGE people at the highest level of DIALOGUE… around your VISION and PURPOSE and CAUSE.

2.) BUILD YOUR FUNDING RATIONALE!

• What is the VALUE PROPOSITION? What is the CASE FOR SUPPORT? What is the RETURN-ON-INVESTMENT? (‘Both/And’ Left Brain/Right Brain. Logic/Magic. Tangible/Intangible.) What are your PRIORITIES? Your 3 Circles or 3 Buckets?

3.) DO THE MATH!

• Do your ‘Blue’ MATH around your Impact and your ‘Green’ MATH around your Cost of Delivery and Funding Model.
• Here are some simple examples to get you going.
  • What would you do with $1 Million???
  • What kind of impact will a $10,000 President’s Circle investment make?
  • What does the specific impact of $1,000 have on the people you serve?

  * I know. It’s RULE #5, but it’s a different spin, and worth a repeat.

4.) Create a simple, powerful PRESENTATION… STORY LINE… and ENGAGEMENT TOOL

• Use a Napkin, Vision Card, Map, Engagement Tool, or whatever to provide a FRAMEWORK and FLOW for the VISIT.
• Hope is not a strategy. Selling is not telling…unless it’s a STORY! It is our responsibility to control the FLOW of the visit. The absolute best way to do this is to have some kind of one-on-one ENGAGEMENT TOOL that allows you to move from PURPOSE to PRIORITIES to PLAN… and then PRESENT THE OPPORTUNITY to help!!!
• *If you need more help with this, there are examples at www.forimpact.org. You can also contact us directly for specific assistance.

5.) Finalize your MASTER PROSPECT LIST!

• IDENTIFY, PRIORITIZE and STRATEGIZE your best and most QUALIFIED PROSPECTS.
• Your Master Prospect List (MPL) is your top prospects in Descending Order of Importance! The list is fluid and the order will change. However, you need to start out with your best shot at your MPL
• Of critical importance is your TOP 33 (the top 3 plus your next 10 plus your next 20!)
• Once you have IDENTIFIED and PRIORITIZED these prospects, you need to STRATEGIZE each prospect in Descending Order of Importance.
• *For much, much, much more on this entire process, see here

6.) SET YOUR GOALS OF ENGAGEMENT!

• These goals need to be SPECIFIC, WRITTEN and MEASURABLE. Here are 3 Examples:
   
  • The ‘33 GIFTS’ Plan. (Example)
    • We will ENGAGE with our TOP 50 PROSPECTS in order to generate 33 COMMITMENTS, which will provide 90% of our funding needs!
    • This will be a SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY.
    • E.g. We will generate $5 Million from:

      • 1	Gift of	$1 Million
        2	Gifts of	$500,000
        4	Gifts of	$250,000
        10	Gifts of	$100,000
        16	Gifts of	$50,000+

        33

        Totaling

        $5 Million

  • The ‘Spartan 300’ Plan. (Example)
    • We will ENGAGE with our BEST 300 prospects (including our Top 33), which will generate bags and buckets of money to Fund Our Vision.
    • E.g. We have (3) members of our SALES TEAM, and we will collectively make 30 VISITS (ENGAGEMENTS) a month for 10 months (using August and December for R&R).
    • We will use a 3x3x3 goal which challenges us to collectively make 3 visits a day, 3 days a week, 3 weeks out of the month.
  • The ‘1,000 ENGAGEMENT’ Plan. (Example)
    • As a larger For Impact organization with 6 committed Relationship Managers, we will make 1,000 VISITS/PRESENTATIONS this year.
    • Each of our 6 Relationship Managers will have a Portfolio of 300 Qualified Prospects. Each of us will make 167 VISITS/PRESENTATIONS (ENGAGEMENTS) this year.
    • We will average 15 QUALITY VISITS a month and do all of the appropriate preparation, predisposition and follow-up.
    • We will do ‘DISCOVERY’ on every visit and with every prospect. We also commit to make the FULL PRESENTATION around the TRIPLE ASK for TODAY, TOMORROW and FOREVER (Annual Operations, Campaign Priorities and a Legacy/Planned Gift.)
    • *20% of these 167 visits will become our TOP 33 gifts for each Relationship Manager.

7.) Commit to better PREDISPOSITION.

• None of these excuses are acceptable in THIS ENGAGEMENT MODEL.
• Do better PREDISPOSITION to set up the VISIT. Get your best prospects to a MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE… and then FOLLOW-UP!
• You are 3° away from any QUALIFIED PROSPECT! Use your Board, Natural Partners, and WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!

8.) ACT/EXECUTE on this ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY!

• Set up your next month’s visits right now!
• ENGAGEMENT is all about FOCUS and DISCIPLINE and EXECUTION.
• Don’t ‘think’… DO! Once you have your Funding Plan and ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY laid out… EXECUTE! (ACT!)
• ‘10,000 PUSH-UPS’
  • Use this ‘Push-Up’ analogy to help reinforce ACTION.
  • If you commit to do 10,000 push-ups a year, the SIMPLEST and most SUCCESSFUL way to achieve that goal is to do 30 PUSH-UPS A DAY. (1 set. 3 sets of 10. 2 push-ups an hour the 15 hours you’re awake. Whatever.)
  • To reinforce this point even more, let’s say you wanted to do 63,000 push-ups a year. (1,000 push-ups x your age). The SIMPLE EXECUTION is 3 sets of 63 a day…every day.
  • The point is that you can’t skip 3 days… or you’re screwed. You can’t wait until June to begin. Nor can you wait until November to make 100 visits (because you’ve only made 3 visits a month up until then).

9.) Commit to SHARING THE STORY and PRESENTING THE OPPORTUNITY!!!

• STOP ‘CULTIVATING’! (Spreading manure on your prospects). Start to SHARE the STORY on every VISIT. PRESENT people the OPPORTUNITY to HELP!!
• Remember: They get more out of helping you than you get from helping them!
• Special, Special Action Note: Start by CHANGING THE WAY YOU TALK!
• CHANGING THE WAY YOU TALK is a proven technique to CHANGE THE WAY YOU ACT and CHANGE YOUR RESULTS.
• THINK Impact, Cause, Philanthropy, Investors, Investment, Presenting Opportunities, Visits, Predisposition, Sales… and, of course, ENGAGEMENT!!!
• *See CHANGE YOUR VOCABULARY

10.) JUST ASK. JUST ASK. JUST ASK.

• Again.