If you are a development officer for a non-profit organization, hopefully you are out calling on donors to your organization. During these visits, what types of questions do you ask? I hope you’re doing more than making small-talk. Ask questions that reveal the heart.
Here are some of my favorite questions:
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- Of all the gifts you’ve ever given, which one has given you the most joy?
- If you were to consider a gift above and beyond anything you have ever given to our institution, what would you want to accomplish.
- What would it take for you to view our organization in the same light that you view (INSERT COMPETING ORGANIZATION THAT THE DONOR IS SUPPORTING AT INCREASED LEVEL).
- How does our institution’s mission dovetail with your own personal mission?
- Do you have any guiding principles that govern the way you make your philanthropic decisions?
- If you were directing a charitable foundation that was about to distribute a million dollars, what would you want to accomplish?
- When you were growing up, did your parents talk with you about organizations they supported? Do you talk with your kids about the importance of giving?
- Of all the organizations you could support, why do you support us?
- Why is our organization so important to you?