8 Proven Ways to Engage Wealth Advisers — and Raise More From DAFs

Donor-advised funds offer a huge opportunity for fundraisers, especially in shaky economic times like these: DAFs hold more than $243 billion that is already available to support nonprofits, according to the National Philanthropic Trust’s latest study.

To get on the radar of DAF donors and attract gifts from these funds, savvy fundraisers build ties with financial advisers and other professionals who counsel these wealthy individuals.

This work is at the heart of fundraising at the Pittsburgh Foundation, a community foundation that sponsors donor-advised funds and distributes millions of dollars in DAF grants to charities each year. Some development officers spend more than 70 percent of their time working directly with wealth advisers and their clients to set up or service funds, including helping donors and prospective supporters create giving plans, says Kate McKenzie, senior director of development and interim director of donor services. And they spend the rest of their time trying to meet and strengthen ties with other advisers, she says.

“It could be that we’re going to a breakfast networking event in the morning, having a lunch with an adviser and their client who’s interested in a donor-advised fund, another coffee meeting in the afternoon to connect with an adviser we’ve never met before and tell them about who we are and how we can help them in their business, and then maybe a happy hour or something,” she says.

These efforts to build a network of financial professionals pay off in a big way: The foundation gets at least half to 80 percent of its new DAF donors each year thanks to referrals from advisers, McKenzie says.

Although most nonprofits don’t sponsor DAFs and can’t offer to open accounts, there are simple things any organization can do to cultivate relationships with wealth advisers so they’ll keep your cause top of mind when guiding clients in their charitable giving.

The Pittsburgh Foundation’s staff members see nonprofits at some of the networking events they attend, says Lindsay Aroesty, vice president of development and donor services at the foundation. “And those are the ones that I think probably have the most success in getting advisers to refer [gifts].”

The Chronicle spoke with McKenzie, Aroesty, and a wealth adviser who works closely with the Pittsburgh Foundation to gather advice to help nonprofits connect in fruitful ways with these professionals and other gatekeepers to DAF donors. Here’s what they recommend.

Start with people you know. If you have board members who are financial advisers, attorneys, or CPAs, see if they would be willing to introduce you to colleagues in their field who might have clients with DAFs, McKenzie says.

Tap your existing donors, too, Aroesty says. When meeting with key supporters, ask them if they would consider introducing you to the people at their financial-services firm.

You could also ask how they would feel about inviting their estate attorney, accountant, or financial adviser to your next meeting, McKenzie adds.

Then look outside your network. Focus on professionals who have a “fiduciary obligation,” which means they are legally required to act in their clients’ best interests, says Adam Yofan, wealth adviser at Buckingham Strategic Wealth. These include certified financial planners (CFP), CPAs, and members of the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA).

To find individuals with these credentials, check the websites of big brokerage firms in your city, do a LinkedIn or Google search, or look at Barron’s lists of top financial advisers, Yofan suggests. “Those advisers who really want to help their clients will absolutely take a meeting,” he says. “The best ones always do.”

In addition to wealth advisers, estate attorneys, and accountants, consider targeting merger-and-acquisition attorneys and life-insurance agents, he adds, because these professionals can be a “fishing hole” for potential wealthy donors.

It’s best to get a personal introduction when approaching someone you don’t know, McKenzie says. But if you reach out on your own, it can help to make a connection to something you have in common, she says, such as your hometown, alma mater, or a shared contact on LinkedIn.

Focus on how your nonprofit can help advisers. Before making initial contact, figure out your message. Don’t say you want to talk about your charity, Yofan says. “If you do that, I might be thinking that you’re shaking me down for money,” he says. “The message could be, should be, ‘help me help you’ — the Jerry Maguire thing.”

Advisers are looking for ways to differentiate themselves to their clients because their marketing messages are all very similar, he says. That’s where nonprofits can help. He suggests that fundraising leaders offer to help advisers shape strategic-giving plans for their clients. This language should resonate with advisers because most know they need to help their clients be more strategic about these decisions, but they often don’t know how.

Talking about the mechanics of giving is easy, Yofan says, but most advisers aren’t as prepared to help clients figure out how to leave a meaningful legacy. By offering to help, you give advisers a way to stand out from their peers and deepen relationships with clients, he says, which is very valuable. For example, offer to join meetings or events with clients to talk about your cause and ways to support it. Or guide the adviser in how to talk with clients about making a planned gift in sensitive and compelling ways.

“This is such a huge opportunity — enormous,” Yofan says, but few charities are taking this proactive approach. No nonprofit besides the Pittsburgh Foundation has ever called him to offer their help, he says.

Help advisers see their role in making an impact. In a way, advisers are part of the charitable gifts their clients make, McKenzie says. “In many cases, the gift would never happen without the adviser giving the client permission — basically assuring them, ‘you’ve got enough,’” she says.

If you connect those dots for advisers and help them see how they will make a real difference in their community by sending donors to your organization, Aroesty says, you’ll give them more of an incentive to do so.

Articulate a tangible need that a gift would help meet, she suggests, such as beds, if your organization is a homeless shelter. That way advisers can communicate the information to their clients and feel empowered knowing they helped fulfill it. “By doing that, then they’re more likely to refer [gifts] to a nonprofit — because it makes them feel good,” Aroesty says.

Address potential red flags in your 990s. “The numbers people are trained to look at the numbers and costs,” Yofan says. Before recommending your nonprofit to their clients, advisers and other financial professionals need to feel comfortable with your 990s. If there are any items that could cause concerns, address them upfront, he says.

For example, if your executive director has a high salary, explain why — and show the return on that investment, perhaps by comparing the revenue he or she brings in compared with a previous leader who received lower pay. “The more an adviser understands that organization and why the 990 might be out of whack, the more they can advocate for that organization and say the impact is more important than the cost,” Yofan says.

Keep presentations short and focused. About 15 to 20 minutes is enough time to make your pitch. “The business case is all they have time for,” McKenzie says. “They are very busy running this business, and philanthropy is not top of mind.”

The foundation learned this lesson when its initial strategy — presenting to advisers for about an hour and talking mainly about their organization — didn’t produce a lot of results, Aroesty says. What does work: speaking for no more than about 20 minutes and focusing on how the foundation could serve as a resource for the firm. “Once advisers started to see the strength in engaging the Pittsburgh Foundation in the relationship with their clients, the doors opened up to the referrals we get now,” she says.

To figure out how to prioritize information, share what you think the advisers need to know in that moment and nothing more, McKenzie says. “Position yourself as the philanthropic expert that can help them get closer to their clients and help the community — and tell them exactly just how to do that by referring their clients to you,” she says.

Make connections at events. The Pittsburgh Foundation hosts events that offer professional development and networking opportunities to advisers in the community. These events often include an information session — such as how to talk with clients about philanthropy — through which attendees can earn continuing-education credits. Convening advisers works well, McKenzie says, because fundraisers get to know these professionals while providing a service they value.

Attend events hosted by professional firms, too, Yofan suggests. Keep in mind that advisers focus on two main things: finding clients and keeping them. “If you can help me find and keep a client through a legit solution, I want to work with you all day long,” he says. For example, offer to join a webinar or a client-appreciation event to educate people about philanthropy.

When making this pitch to firms, he says, remember to focus mainly on how you can help them stand out from their competition. Only 5 to 10 percent of your message should be about your organization.

Stay in touch in smart ways. The Pittsburgh Foundation evaluated its outreach to advisers and determined that once a month was too often to communicate with them. Yofan says a quarterly check-in is probably about right.

In a typical year, the foundation’s network of advisers might get a newsletter each quarter, one presentation or meeting, and opportunities for several other types of engagements, Aroesty says. The foundation gives priority to in-person interactions — one-on-one or by hosting events — as the most productive use of staffers’ time, she says, though it’s also the most expensive.

The foundation also sprinkles in some informal, spontaneous communications, McKenzie says. For example, if she sees an article that she thinks an adviser would love, she’ll share it.

Consider doing little things like that each week for different people throughout the year, McKenzie suggests. These efforts don’t take much time yet can be even more meaningful than formal outreach because they are more personal. “What it really comes down to is we try to treat our adviser partners as donors,” she says.