How to Get in Front of Wealth Advisers
Two banks have failed, and the possibility of recession looms. It’s more important than ever for fundraisers to be able to reach donors who have money to give. One place to look is donor-advised funds, which are dollars earmarked for charity. According to the National Philanthropic Trust’s latest study, DAFs hold more than $243 billion that is already available to support nonprofits.
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, reports my colleague Lisa Schohl who identified eight proven ways to engage wealth advisers.
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. To learn more, check out the full story.