86. How To Successfully Fundraise for Your School with Melanie Norton

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Aubrey: Welcome to Mindful School Marketing. I’m Tara Clays. And I’m Aubrey Bursch. Today we’re joined by Melanie Norton. Melanie is the founder and CEO of a boutique, non profit fundraising, and strategic planning consulting firm in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her experiences in banking, higher education, fundraising, and consulting give her a unique perspective on the art and science of this work.

She speaks regularly across the nation about fundraising and other non profit topics. Welcome, Melanie. We’re so excited you’re here today. 

Melanie: Thank you so much. My pleasure to be here today. Thank you for inviting me. 

Tara: Yeah, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us a little bit more about yourself beyond what Aubrey shared?

If there’s anything else you’d like to say about your background? 

Melanie: Sure, thank you so much. Yeah, I’m a lifelong Midwesterner and a lifelong learner. Have a real Passion for continuing to learn. You can probably tell from the introduction, uh, I still am trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up and how to fit in all the wonderful things that I looked into, into, uh, my work, but, uh, yeah, it’s, it’s been a real joy to have, uh, a variety of experiences throughout my career and have an opportunity to, to pull them all together and assist, uh, my clients with their, um, important work ahead.

So, yeah. It’s a different, uh, experience every day. 

Aubrey: Yeah. I mean, you do have such a varied background and I love that you’re a lifelong learner too. So that’s fantastic. Um, now this is a topic. I know that our schools are very interested in. So what key considerations should schools, especially small independent schools, keep in mind when planning?

A capital campaign. 

Melanie: Yeah. Well, um, there are so many things and I’ll do my best to pull together my, my best advice and in a nutshell, but, uh, my greatest advice is really to start with strategy and I’m amazed at how many organizations, institutions will, uh, invite us in or invite other consultants in to do a specific, um, you know, set of, of work or object objectives and they haven’t, you know, Um, started with the strategic plan.

So fundraising, from my perspective, campaign or not campaign, uh, should really start with strategy and, uh, you know, that really guides everything else. I also, um, cannot stress enough how important it is to prioritize. That’s tough, uh, for schools. We have a laundry list of things we could potentially do.

And I find that most institutions, um, are hesitant to prioritize some things over others. Uh, everyone wants their thing to be a priority in a setting, uh, like, um, a school or an institution of, Um, higher learning. And so, uh, the it’s so important for institutions to really prioritize when it comes to campaign.

I’ve not met a client, nor do I know of one who can do it all. We really are required to focus in on the things that are going to make the biggest difference in the shortest amount of time because no institution is going to run out of Things to potentially fund. So, um, in the absence of being able to do it all at once, I think starting with a plan, focusing in on the greatest priorities is really the foundation to set any campaign up for success.

Tara: Thank you for that. Yeah, I appreciate it. And I’m really happy to be talking about this. We had an episode earlier with a deep Barry, who I know that, you know, and have worked with and and so she covered sort of part two of the capital campaign, right? She works on communications for those things. But, um, But she recommended that we talked to you because we really wanted to dig into some of the the nuts and bolts of setting up the campaign and finding donors and sort of and identifying that as part of the, you know, as part of the preliminary strategy, right?

So, so I wanted to ask you about, about that. Particular thing when it comes to donors and any successful strategies for identifying potential donors for, especially for a small schools campaign. I know you work with a range of institutions, mainly larger, but you know, our audience is mainly smaller. So if we kind of put ourselves in the mindset of a small school that might not have the same kind of, um, you know, the same kind of base as a, as a.

As the higher education institution would have, um, you know, what role does alumni play for? Let’s say a small elementary, middle, even high school in supporting that fundraising effort. So can you talk a little bit about that donor base? 

Melanie: Sure, absolutely. And I think regardless of the size of the institution, um, alumni are incredibly important to the effort.

There is no shop that has as many people or enough people to do all the things that they would like to accomplish. So, and I know that’s It’s particularly true for smaller schools. There aren’t going to be enough people. So engaging, I like to call it engaging the alumni army, but engaging the alumni army is incredibly important for institutions to be able to increase their bandwidth.

Um, you know, those advocates. Um, and I think that comes through engagement, which I view is really the first phase of any successful fundraising endeavor, um, is so important. And you know, most alumni are passionate. Um, you know, if they’re willing to volunteer and assist, they’ve had an experience that they would like to, uh, for others to experience as well.

Um, and I think for smaller schools too, uh, you know, people go to smaller schools if they Can because they don’t like being a number and that’s true when they graduate as well alumni don’t they also like that, um, you know, individualized attention and that engagement. It’s tough. I think a lot of of organizations and institutions.

really, um, you know, not, not their fault, but they’re guided sometimes by boards and others who don’t fully understand or appreciate all the challenges that come with, um, you know, trying to get all of this done. So I think, uh, alumni are absolutely critical and sometimes we view volunteer management or engagement as something that’s nice to do, or You know, we know that it’s time consuming, but it’s absolutely critical, in my opinion, as the first step in any fundraising endeavor.

You can’t ask people to give a gift if they aren’t engaged. Your chances of getting that are low. And, you know, frankly, on the other end, so, is to me as important as engagement, uh, because it’s your, your first step to your next gift. And if people don’t have a great experience, when they do make an investment, they’re unlikely to probably repeat that experience, right?

So alumni are the champions, they’re the, you know, they are the advocates that know what the experience offers and they, through, um, You know, relatively, um, you know, narrow, uh, sort of, uh, um, tasks that we would ask them to do can really make a huge difference in a, in a campaign for any school. 

Aubrey: Thank you so much for sharing that.

Um, I, what you said about basically the relationships, engagement people have with a school and the connections they have, I mean, that, I always say you can’t really have a giving or a successful fundraising program without those components. So I really appreciate you bringing those up. Um, I’d love to get your thoughts on, um, kind of goals.

So in having worked with several, many, many, many schools on fundraising efforts, um, setting goals sometimes can be challenging, especially small for small Independent schools. I mean, you have a lot of people weighing in on goals like the board, head of school, outside forces. Um, so could you talk a little bit about some effective ways to set fundraising goals that are realistic yet ambitious, especially for a small independent 

Melanie: school?

Yeah, that’s a really great question. And I think there’s there’s really not one single answer to that from my perspective. But what I can tell you, in my experience is a lot of institutions, a lot of schools will sort of approach a fundraising goal is, as you know, This is what we need and this is what we have.

And so A minus B equals C, here’s your fundraising goal. And that’s an incredibly difficult position, I think, for most organizations to be in. Your fundraising goal is really a combination of who has the connection, interest, and ability to help us reach our goals. So if you’ve got a fundraising team and an effort that you’re knows the people in your constituency really well, you can approach fundraising goals much more intelligently than just here’s, you know, fill, fill in the gap.

Um, but it’s tough because I think that, you know, coming up with the gap number, if you will, is what’s easy for most, um, institutions. Uh, you also sometimes get stuck in the, the loop or the trap of, this is what we did last year. And you know, let’s increase it this year. Um, and again, that may or may not be the right answer.

You might, uh, you might have received an unusual gift one year that’s not going to repeat. Um, or you may be asking far less than what you actually could be raising. So I think, um, you know, sort of understanding that as step one, I, I think is incredibly important. Um, the other thing I’d like to offer is again, sort of circling back to, you know, the response earlier.

There is no way any one shop and the number of people in that shop, and by that, I mean, you know, those tasks with with fundraising can do it all. So goals should really be acquired from my standpoint as a combination of what can the team do, or individual in some cases, and what can the board or other people do.

Be held accountable for in terms of raising goals. Then sometimes that doesn’t make me very popular because some, some boards don’t like to hear that sometimes, but honestly, uh, I think whenever you’re thinking about it again, I always say fundraising is a team sport. And if you’ve only got, um, a quarterback, you’re not going to have a very successful football team.

And, uh, frankly, the same thing holds true for fundraising. Um, you know, those goals should really be a combination of what we have the capacity to do, um, and what others can help us accomplish as well. 

Tara: Yeah. I love that you mentioned the board. Uh, and I, I think that That is definitely a critical piece as well as the alumni I serve on a board and you know I think a lot of times people join boards, not realizing that a big part of being on a board is, I love the idea that the analogy of the football team right that you have got to go out there and you got to throw the ball sometimes and it’s really like, nobody likes to ask people for money, it’s a really hard thing to do, but I think you know, maybe, you know, What’s your experience in working with boards and helping them overcome that sort of, I don’t know if you do that, but helping them overcome that.

I just spent, you know, an hour yesterday calling donors for year end giving and I think out of 20 people, I got two and the rest of them were voicemail messages. Uh, and, and our, uh, development director did a really good job of giving us a script to read. Uh, and so, you know, but, but put out many asks. To the board for people to do that.

And, you know, finally, like I reluctantly volunteered, uh, and because nobody likes to do that. So I’d love to, to pick your brain a little bit on how to generate some comfort and enthusiasm among your board for that. 

Melanie: Yeah. I, you know, um, I love this question because I’ve experienced it throughout my career and, and Tara, I agree with you very, very much.

Very few people actually, you know, love doing the work. Some people do, right? I remember when I, when I was asked to interview for my first fundraising job, I was just exploring. I had no intention to go into fundraising. And my first thought was who would ever want to raise money for a living. And when I got into it and learn more about what it really was, Which is relationship building.

I fell in love with it and I found a lifetime career as a result. So it was much, uh, to my surprise, I think when you think about what I, what I, um, like to think of as annual fundraising, which would be things like phone a thons and events and, you know, some of those things that help, um, support our annual operations.

And then, um, sort of in the next level, really major go fundraising. Um, you know, A couple things come to mind. Number one, practice makes perfect. I mean, the more that you can be provided with the tools and the opportunity to connect with, um, the director and in practice, you know, those solicitations, I think that, um, is, um, It’s great.

I mean, certainly being provided with the tools is important. A lot of people are afraid of getting a question they don’t know the answer to, which is part of the hesitation, I think, of fundraising. Um, so my, my philosophy is a little different probably than, than what you’ll hear from others. And so your viewers can take it with, uh, for what it is, but, um, you know, I don’t think, um, Uh, we should try and fit a square peg into a round hole all the time.

If, if people, what are they good at? And what do they bring to the table? And how can we leverage the things that they really enjoy doing to help us reach the final result? So I loved tag teaming, uh, solicitations, um, during my career because you have the person who’s the visionary, maybe the program director, the president, the CEO, whatever, whatever the title is, head of school.

Um, and they can talk all day about the wonderful vision they have for the future. Um, and then I, as the technician can make the gift ask. And so separating those in some cases, particularly when you’re talking about larger, um, individual gifts is really important. I think also understanding the difference.

To me between, um, activities that, that really do help move the needle and activities that just keep us busy. I call it busy nets and business. And I think there’s a difference between busy activity and activity that really promotes the business that we’re in. And so, um, you know, you’ll, yeah, I think that is a constant.

Um, battle education is really the biggest hurdle from my standpoint in fundraising period. So really educating your board and other constituents with regard to what is really helpful to us what are ways that you can plug in. And if you’re more interested in introducing us to 12 people who could potentially gain an interest in and make a gift versus making phone calls, I probably would take the 12 personally.

But, um, yeah, I think, you know, having the right tools, having the opportunity to practice those and then thinking about. Um, you know, what are the gifts that I bring as an advocate, uh, an alum, a board member, and how might those help move the, the program forward?

Aubrey: I, I love what you said here about the, first of all, so many things, by the way, I totally relate to someone who did not want to fundraise. I was like, fundraising sounds awful. Like, Why and now and then I got to know and I realized it’s about relationship building and I was like, this is super exciting and I totally got into it.

But I too was like, no, no. Thank you. Um, I totally resonated with that. And I also appreciated you pointing out busy versus like moving the needle, like at schools were super great at adding, you know, So many things to our plate and not subtracting anything or analyzing the return on investment of things.

So I love that you brought that up because I think schools can really probably really need to hear that, that message. Um, so thank you. 

Melanie: Yeah. Yeah. It’s tough. I mean, there are a lot of things we would love to have, and I think that requires the prioritizing as well. 

Aubrey: Yeah, 

Melanie: for sure. 

Aubrey: Um, I’m curious, um, You know, when we’re talking about a capital campaign, uh, specifically, and, you know, we have the silent and public phases of the campaign, how can small schools or schools in general effectively measure and communicate the impact of donations from a capital campaign to the supporters, both internally, like, and then the community.

I mean, we’re thinking as a marketing podcast and a lot of that, like I work a lot with fundraisers about marketing the campaign. Right. And so it would be very. Love to hear your thoughts on this particular topic. 

Melanie: Yeah. Uh, yeah, it’s a great question. And I think it starts with expectations. Um, and again, I keep, I keep, um, you know, circling back to focus, but, uh, you know, in your, your speaking capital campaign specifically, but, you know, one of my, um, You know, one of the things that I try and tell clients when we start, uh, campaign engagement is if you have a comprehensive campaign, for instance, and everything counts in your campaign, um, if you’ve got a laundry list of things that you’d like to have, the impact that you’re going to feel, um, in any one given area is likely to be small with the exception of a couple of areas where you, where you could end up with, um, some greater support.

So I think really starting with expectations there. There is also sometimes real confusion. I find this in my work frequently. Um, you know, there’s there’s a strong desire to only promote and celebrate gifts that are cash in the door. And to me, when organizations are only asking for and promoting what someone can do right now.

Number one, they’re leaving money on the table. But number two, they’re unintentionally telling a donor, if you can’t do what I want you to do in the timeframe, I want you to do it, then I don’t want your money. And I, I just, I, I preach that all the time. Um, you know, we have to be open to, uh, the fact that our, all of our constituents and prospects have a timing that’s, that’s right for them in terms of what they’re doing.

So, um, you know, I think that’s really an important part of, you know, that equation. And, um, I, I really always, you know, try and encourage my clients not to, to lose sight of that. So, um, yeah, those are a few things that, that come to mind, at least initially, I think I’ve gotten myself on track now that I’ve talked about that for so, for so long, but.

Tara: I love that. I think that’s, that’s. That’s a great approach. And it’s something that I, I, I’ve not heard before. So I, I liked hearing that reminder, um, about what, you know, what you value in your, in your, uh, in what you’re asking for and what you’re receiving. Uh, I want to talk about mindfulness. So we like to ask all of our guests, even though we talk a lot about different marketing things, and, um, we’re talking about fundraising today.

overarching theme of our podcast is mindfulness. And so we like to ask our guests how they define mindfulness and then how do you apply it to this type of work that we’re talking about in terms of fundraising? 

Melanie: Wow. I love that question. Um, how do I define it? I think for me, it’s, um, probably, uh, stepping back and, uh, taking, um, Taking a view of what’s happening outside of myself, if that makes sense.

So really stopping the, the gerbil wheel, if you will, and, uh, thinking about, um, you know, what is, what is really most important. I think it plays well, frankly, with the themes that we’ve been talking about today, which is, you know, starting with strategy, um, prioritizing, you know, it’s just so hard to, um, you To accomplish a goal if you’re not, if it’s not constantly in front of you.

And to me, mindfulness is, is sort of recentering constantly on the thing that, um, you are trying to accomplish. I think that’s incredibly important in fundraising. Um, you know, I remember early in my career, someone telling me your job, whatever your job is, we’ll take as much as you’re willing to give it.

And I think that is so true. And because There are endless inputs for fundraising. This is one of the hardest things about fundraising is, you know, when you’re sitting in the chair, you might have a dozen people who call you and they want a dozen different things. And those dozen things may or may not have anything to do with the list you already have on your desk of priorities and things that you need to accomplish.

And so, Um, it’s hard to tell donors and, and board members and others, um, you know, no, so we try and juggle it all. And I think that is what, that is from my perspective, what makes fundraising so hard. It’s a hard job and, you know, in the best of circumstances, but it is constantly juggling, uh, a wide variety of variables.

And I think, um, you know, Earlier in my career, I would have benefited more from thoughts, greater thoughts about mindfulness and in focusing and bringing back into view the things that are really the most important that are going to make the biggest difference for, you know, my organization, institution, my school in the shortest amount of time.

Aubrey: That’s such a great reminder. Thank you for sharing that. Um, your take on mindfulness. Um, we’re excited to go to one of my favorite portions of the show, which is our rapid fire segment. Are you ready to rapid fire? 

Melanie: Sure. 

Aubrey: I’ll do my best. Great. It’s super fun. Uh, and informal. So, um, I’m going to kick us off with the first question, which is if you could put one book as mandatory reading in the high school curriculum, what would it be?

Melanie: Yeah, that’s a great question. A Fever in the Heartland, uh, by Timothy Egan. It’s, uh, yeah, it’s, it’s a shocking book. It’s a, it’s a book. Uh, it’s, it’s not fiction. It’s nonfiction. Uh, it reads as a novel, but it’s about the KKK about a hundred years ago in Indiana. And the influence that, uh, one sort of notorious.

horrible character had on communities. And, um, it, it’s, it’s fascinating. It’s fascinating because I’ve not met a single person here and this occurred, you know, within, uh, the character lived, the notorious person lived less than 15 miles from where I’m sitting right now. I’ve not met anyone who had any idea about this history, but there are a lot of relevant threads to today.

And, uh, it’s a, it’s a book that sort of haunts you for days after you put it down. But, um, as a lifelong learner, I think it’s incredibly important. It’s, it’s research. And, uh, that is definitely my number one answer now. 

Tara: Wow. Thank you. Another book to add to my list. I’ve got so many, but I was just listening to a podcast this morning about how to read faster.

So I think that might be helpful to know. Uh, what is one app that you couldn’t 

Melanie: live without? Ah, okay. Well, that is Audible, but I did not read A Fever in the Heartland, or listen to, I read that one, but I love my Audible account. So that, that’s got to be right up there. Um, yeah, I love it a lot. I used to drive a lot for work and that was a lifesaver.

Aubrey: I happen to be a huge Audible fan myself as well. Um, I keep trying to like end my membership and then I keep getting drawn back in. I still use the library’s Audible stuff, but like, you know, sometimes that book you love is not available there. 

Tara: Audio books are now on Spotify premium. Oh, that’s right.

Something. Yes. So yeah, I paused my Audible to check that out. 

Aubrey: I keep. Yeah, but it’s a good app. All of them are good apps. And the more we can learn in, in multiple formats, it seems the better. Um, I’m curious, what are you reading right now? 

Melanie: Oh, gosh. So I always have a variety of books going right now. I just finished, um, Lessons in Chemistry, which I know is now an Apple show, and it was wonderful.

I loved the book. Um, I’m also in the middle of, uh, His Truth is Marching On. It’s a John Meacham book. I, I have a really weird, um, Audible library. I have a wide variety of things from, uh, Uh, a few romance novels to, um, some really, um, healthy, um, kind of interesting math type books. And so I have a wide range.

One of my friends was really, um, chiding me about my audible library, but those, those are, uh, that’s one book that I’m in the middle of now, but I usually have several going and usually a couple of things on my bedside table too. 

Tara: Thank you. Uh, last rapid fire question is what is one piece of advice you can leave us with today?

Melanie: Yeah, that’s a really great question too. I think, um,

you know, I, I guess I’ll, I’ll, I’ll bring that one into the, the topic that, that we spoke about today in terms of my work, um, to stay encouraged, uh, fundraising, like I said, is a challenging job. Um, even in the best of circumstances, it’s easy. To, um, you know, to feel discouraged sometimes, but, you know, um, I, I think it’s important to, to continue to do things that fill your tank as an individual, uh, that will make you a better fundraiser, a more interesting person, um, a better, uh, family member.

And, um, certainly, um, So, you know, fill your own tank, make sure that, um, you’re taking some time for you to restore it because in the fundraising world, uh, we celebrate a campaign for about five minutes and then the next day we want to know, uh, what’s happened, what have you done for me lately? Um, so it never goes away and it’s a wonderful career because of that.

There are more. Great positions and there are great people to fill them, um, will never not have a need to raise money. Um, so I, I really highly encourage people who enjoy, um, you know, aspects of this work to consider it, but you do have to very intentionally take time out to fill your own tank. So I think that’s what my advice would be.

Tara: Thank you. That’s excellent. I love it. I appreciate, um, all that you’ve shared with us. Where can people find you online, Melanie? 

Melanie: Um, the website www.norton council, N-O-R-T-O-N council is the C-O-U-N-S-E-L uh, dot com. And uh, you can also find me, my email is melanie@nortoncouncil.com. So. 

Aubrey: Thank you, 

Tara: Melanie.

You’re welcome. Thank you so much for joining us today. We appreciate you. Bye. Thank you. Best wishes. Take 

Aubrey: care.