0
0
Donor Relations, TTG Answers

Building A Treehouse That Donors Will Treasure

Be inspired as Jody builds a treehouse with his daughter and shares its relevance to building a ministry that touches the hearts of donors.


Jody Fausnight has worked in the fund development field for more than 25 years and has held the CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) professional fundraising certification since 2000. He has served as a director of advancement or community or public relations director with four non-profit organizations in addition to many years of consulting services provided to clients of various ministries in NY and PA.

Mr. Fausnight founded and chaired a regional development training conference for Christian school leaders in Pennsylvania in 2003 and has been a speaker for ACSI and networking roundtable regional events for development staff. He has served as a deacon board officer in his church for some years and is active as a committee leader, volunteer and merit badge counselor in the Boy Scouts of America organization.

A published author, Mr. Fausnight has expertise in Christian school recruiting, public relations, fund development, and major gift cultivation strategies and has grown ministry development programs from the ground up on more than one occasion. He has successfully raised many millions on behalf of numerous smaller organizations for which he has been employed or contracted for consulting.

Jody holds a B.A. in Business Administration with a minor in Mass Communication from Taylor University and an M.B.A. from Lebanon Valley College. In his free time, Mr. Fausnight loves to ski, run and travel to new adventures with his family. He is blessed immeasurably to help ministries find their development footing, whatever place they may be starting from — as emerging development operations or entering major capital campaigns.

Donor Relations, Fundraising, Fundraising Verse of the Week, Major Donors

4 Types Of Donor Heart Responses

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown” (Matthew 13:3-8).

The parable of the four types of soil reveal different heart responses of 4 types of donors. Jesus’ message of forgiveness was the same for everyone, but not everyone could receive it. Your ministry faces these same reactions from potential donors.

Path

This donor doesn’t resonate at all with your mission. Your message bounces off their heart and never takes root.

Rocky

This donor makes an emotional response to your appeal but has no genuine connection to your mission and their support quickly fades.

Thorns

This person receives your message and responds but has too many other concerns that prevent them from becoming a faithful supporter. Jesus comments on this soil, “but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22).

Good

This donor receives your message and responds generously. Some produce thirty, some sixty and some one hundred.

How should this inform us regarding our major donor strategy? We can spend lots of time cultivating relationships with those along the path, on rocky soil, or infested with thorns – yet none of these soils produce fruit. Instead, focus your efforts on those donors whose heart connects with yours.

One Christian university analyzed their million-dollar gifts and discovered that in almost every situation, the donor’s first gift was small, but their gifts grew as their relationship grew.

Challenge

Spend your time in the right soil cultivating gifts that are thirty, so they grow into sixty, one hundred – or even a million.


Author: Ron Haas, The Timothy Group. Ron has served the Lord as a pastor, the vice president of advancement of a Bible college, a Christian foundation director, a board member and a fundraising consultant. He’s authored two books: Ask for a Fish – Bold Faith-Based Fundraising and Simply Share – Bold, Grace-Based Giving. He regularly presents fundraising workshops at ministry conferences and has written fundraising articles for At the Center magazine and Christian Leadership Alliance’s Outcomes magazine.

Video Animator: Madison Bluhm, The Timothy Group

Cart Overview