Make sure to get your free copy of ‘The 10 Commandments of Catholic Fundraising’. It’s a book that highlights the ten tasks you should do to keep you focused on your mission and hit your fundraising target, every time.

Transcript

Greetings my fellow Catholics! Today, I am going to be giving you the best possible advice I could ever give you on how to fundraise during Lent. That is our topic for the next few minutes. How to fundraise effectively as a Catholic for and during Lent. 

Hi, I’m Brice Sokolowski, the founder of CatholicFundraiser.net, a Catholic apostolate serving Catholics who want to learn how to fundraise. So if you’ve ever wondered what you can do for better fundraising, today I am going to be sharing what to do specifically for Lent. 

I also want to make sure that you download my free guide, The 10 Commandments to Catholic Fundraising,  that I produced, offering 10 essential pieces of advice on what to do as a Catholic to build a strong foundation for your fundraising. The link to  The 10 Commandments of Catholic Fundraising is going to be right below and, as we go along over the next few minutes, you’ll also find( if you’re not on my website), a link to the same notes that I have in front of me, You can find them on the website along with an audio archive of this vlog. Everything that you could possibly want for fundraising resources will be there so please, download it, and share it. You’re going to have everything that you could possibly want to have a successful fundraising season during Lent. 

Here are, my three pieces of fundraising advice for Lent

Number one, you have to remind people that Lent has three pillars: Prayer, Fasting, and Alms Giving. So before you ask anyone to please donate, be sure to remind them that it is also Lent and how Lent has three pillars. It is important that you do this before you actually ask for money. Your objective is to make sure that people have a successful Lent and that means that they’re praying and fasting. Obviously, you want to do your fundraising and emphasize the alms giving side of Lent but, at the same time, I have found that Catholic organizations who don’t forget the other two elements, who share those pillars with their community, tend to have better results with their fundraising. So that is point number one 

Point number two is to identify specific people to ask and then, to ask them directly. The reason I say that is because, well, you’ve probably seen how generic the “asks” can look from most parishes. You see the emails, you see the letters, you see a lot of material coming out during Lent and you’re thinking, oh, this is how you fundraise. Well, I can say (having been a diocesan fundraiser and having spoken with many, many fundraising individuals and organizations), all that outside stuff that you’re seeing probably generates about 20% of all donations. What you’re not seeing are the direct asks and that’s why I’m saying identify specific people and ask them directly for a donation. That’s the heart of all fundraising.  Direct asks are at the core of what you say and how you say it. 

That’s why, when you jump over to CatholicFundraiser.net, you will find that I have a lot more resources on fundraising than I can dive specifically into here, like what exactly do you say to somebody when you make an ask, and what are some of the different scenarios you might face. That would turn my next few minutes into hours! Instead, please jump over to CatholicFundraiser.net where you will find more information on how to identify donors and be more specific with them. 

My third point is to make the ask. Remind them again that it’s Lent while also explaining how their donation is going to be used. Don’t just say, hey, it’s Lent, give me money. That’s not enough. You have to rise above all of the distractions and remind them that Lent involves prayers, fasting, and almsgiving, so please think about your community and church. You also want to be able to explain to people what it is that you are going to be doing with their generous gift. Make reference to what you have done in the past that has been successful while continuing to make sure that you do that direct ask. Be specific with specific people, specifically about what you’re going to do with their money! 

Specifics are key to good fundraising. Catholics appreciate specifics. I’ll just leave it at that. If you want to have a great Lenten fundraising season, be specific with specific people about specific projects. 

I hope that you have found this helpful. Please share this with another Catholic apostolate that you think might benefit from the advice. Please spread the word. And jump over to CatholicFundraiser.net for more resources and if you want to reach out to me, all my details are on my website. God bless and have a very, very blessed Lent!