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October 3, 2006 Leave a Comment

Book Review – Winning the Toughest Customer

If you are in sales or marketing you need to get this book – and take its message to heart.  That is, if you really want to grow your sales or market share.

This is not a “preachy” book.  It doesn't shout, “Understand women or else…”  Yes, the statistics are compelling: Women make or influence over 80% of all purchases made in America today; 48% of all privately-held businesses in the USA are majority woman-owned, etc.  But the book is really about understanding how to sell to anyone the way they want to be sold to, in the way that will make them want to buy from you and keep them coming back for more.  A winning approach!

There is no “psycho-babble” here.  Just a very well-written logical approach to understanding how women think, why the react as they do and how to reach them – and keep them as customers – and as a valuable source of referrals.

Here are two key concepts from the book:

“Many women will buy from you not because they understand what you are selling but because you understand !”

“A woman will buy when she feels confident about her decision.  What women want is information enabling them to gain the confidence they need to move the sale forward,  What they want is the knowledge necessary to make a good decision for themselves.”

I read this book just before my wife hosted a bridal shower for 30 women at our house.  As I silently listened and observed their conversations and actions the concepts that Delia Passi presented in this book really “rang true.” 

If you have ever grown frustrated trying to sell to a woman; gotten angry when they said, ” I have to think about this some more.” or just generally wondered why it takes woman so long to make up their mind – if they ever do… the payoff for you is:

“The time spent acquiring and retaining women customers will ultimately lead to more business generated per customer, twice as many referrals, and a tendency to create greater word-of-mouth marketing for you and your brand.”

I'm sold!  And I now have a better understanding of how to sell to and understand women.  I recommend this book

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October 3, 2006 Leave a Comment

Winning the Toughest Customer.jpg

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October 3, 2006 Leave a Comment

Winning the Toughest Customer

I posted a new photo to Photos.

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October 3, 2006 Leave a Comment

How Do I Find a Donor?

It is not too difficult to find potential donors and grantmakers.  The difficulty is finding the right grantmaker for your organization and your program(s).  There are hundreds of thousands of organizations that give money or provide in-kind services each year.  The database of Grantsmart contains the public record tax returns (IRS Document 990-PF) for 103,193 private foundations and charitable trusts.  Add in the millions of individuals who give money, goods and service time each year and the list of possible donors is virtually limitless.

 

And that is exactly the point.  If you want to be successful in obtaining grants you must “limit” your search for donors and grantmakers.  Actually, a better word is “focus.”  Learn to focus your search efforts.  Here is some great advice on researching funders direct from The Foundation Center website:

 

“Researching funders that will turn out to be good prospects takes time, but the results should be well worth this investment.  Be realistic in your expectation.  Foundations and other grantmakers cannot meet all or even most of your financial needs.  The vast majority of the money given to nonprofit organizations is actually donated by individuals.  Foundations and corporations combined currently provide approximately 16.5% of all philanthropic gifts, but their grants can make up an important part of your support.

Do not make the mistake of focusing all your efforts on one ‘ideal’ funder.  Your prospect list should include a number of options.  Even the most experienced proposal writers receive many more letters of rejection than they do grants.  You should avoid compiling a list of several hundred ‘pie-in-the-sky’ prospects and sending off a mass mailing of your proposal.  Approaching a funder for support is a highly individualized process that should be conducted in a businesslike manner.”

Great advice – from the experts!  There are several key points in those two paragraphs that we will discuss in future posts.

 

As you focus your research note the following common limitations:

  1. Geographic – many foundations and corporations limit eligibility for grants to specific geographic areas.  Observe and respect this!
  2. Financial – What is the range of grants that this foundation makes?  If they state that no grant will exceed $10,000, don’t ask for $25,000.  Not only will you be rejected immediately, you will have earned a terrible reputation for not respecting the wishes of the grantmaker.
  3. Timing – Many foundations have specific time frames for considering grant applications.  By all means, respect this – submitting your application late – even by one hour means instant rejection.
  4. Type of Grant – The foundation will most likely state the type of grants (operational, programmatic, endowment, etc.) that they will fund.  This is mandated by the charter of each foundation and you must respect it.  We will discuss this further in a subsequent post.

 

To assist you with your research I once again point you to The Foundation Center’s website.  Here is the URL for a practical and concise “Prospect Worksheet.:  This is for institutions but they also have one for individual prospects.  You have your choice of format: PDF, Word, Excel, etc.  This is an invaluable tool – please take advantage of it!

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October 2, 2006 Leave a Comment

Show me the money

When I begin a presentation on Grant Writing, I frequently ask audience members if they remember the famous line from the 1996 film, “Jerry Maguire.”  Cuba Gooding, Jr. plays a talented athlete and he memorably asks his agent (Tom Cruise) to “Show me the Money!”

And since you are reading an article on seeking grants, I can imagine that that is your first thought – “Who has the money and how can I get it – fast?”

Fortunately, thanks to the mostly volunteer efforts of the people who run Grantsmart, researching potential sources of funding is relatively easy.  You can start your research from any computer that has Internet access.

The Grantsmart website – www.grantsmart.org has scanned, sorted and disseminates all public record tax returns for Private Foundations and Charitable Trusts in the USA.  As of July, 2006 their search-able database contains 611,494 tax returns for 103,193 foundations and trusts.  This is a massive undertaking (by Grantsmart) but for you – the Grant Seeker – it is an incredible resource!

Because the IRS has granted non-profit status to these foundations and trusts their tax returns are a matter of public record.  The specific section of the return that you want to look at is Form 990 and it is located towards the end of each tax return.

In exchange for permitting non-profit status, the government mandates that each foundation and trust actually spend a portion of their assets each year.  Generally, they must spend 5% of their assets each year or risk losing their status as a non-for-profit organization.

When you look at each Form 990 you will see which individuals or organizations received funding – and the amount of each grant – for that tax year.

Here's how to get the most out of the search-able database of Grantsmart.  I'll detail an actual search that I did this morning:

1) First I searched for all foundations in CA – California, that had assets greater than $10 million dollars.  This returned 269 tax returns – for the year 2005 – sorted in alphabetical order.

2) Once I found a few recognizable names I clicked to see the actual tax return – via the free Adobe PDF format.  I made a few notes in my records for later research.  I was looking for foundations and trusts that might fund a program for one of my clients.

3) I narrowed the search down by Zip Code.  Looking at a single Zip Code I found on 1 foundation with assets greater than $10 million for the year 2005.

4) When I lowered my threshold to foundations with assets greater than $100,000 I found 15 foundations and trusts.

When you are looking for more information about possible funders, Grantsmart is a great starting point.  Be sure to keep a notebook handy and also write down the 9-digit EIN (Employer Informant ion Number) for each foundation that you are interested in.  Having this EIN number handy will facilitate future searches.

Be sure to look at the individuals and organizations who received grants from the foundation.  You may recognize them!  If so, do additional research – what made them attractive to the foundation?  What were they able to accomplish with the grant?  Does the foundation still fund programs in this area?

Please share your questions and stories with our readers.  We want to hear from you!

 

 

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