Stretch Gifts -- are you positioning yourself for one?
According to the Foundation Center, "So-Called 'Stretch' Gifts Growing in Popularity." Question to ask yourself as you consider the possibility of securing stretch gifts for your organization:
- Does your organization's mission compel donors to consider making personal sacrifices for your success?
- Does your leadership team have the stability and stewardship abilities necessary to make donors confident in their ability to effectively utilize their gifts?
- Do you have aggressive plans for broadening services or deepening impact, for which significant amounts of new funding are required?
- Do your donors understand the need for stretch gifts? (or do they perceive that you "don't really need the money" ... something that more than one donor has told me)
- Can you tell a donor how their personal gift -- the actual funds that they will give you -- will be used?
If you cannot answer all of these questions, your donors surely can't. The answers to these questions are the ones that compel sacrificial gifts.
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On another note, I just couldn't help but post this... powerful message, delivered on a simple postcard:
Now that my daughter is 14 months old, these things really hit home. Speaking of, indulge me....
