How I Closed a Million Dollars in Gifts Using Gratavid
Using Gratavid, Zoom, and Calendy to secure over $1,000,000 in gifts
March 6, 2021 · 3 min read
This past year, knowing that sharing donor’s annual gift requests and making asks were not going to happen in person, I had to think quickly of how to pivot.
Typically, I would schedule a face-to-face visit or show up to a company campaign kick-off and connect with the donor to make their annual solicitation. My first reaction was to send their request in the mail and then follow up with a phone call. The second idea was to schedule a zoom meeting, give a short presentation, and then make the ask.
As I felt I was getting closer to the answer, the final idea popped into my head. I could send a Gratavid asking my donors to book some time on my schedule.
My video was simple, I jokingly said, “Knowing we won’t be able to meet in person this year (end of jokingly part), and typically I would drop off your annual request at your office, I thought it might be easier to schedule 15 minutes where I would share your impact and what this year’s donation request would be. Just click the link below to find a time, and we can meet virtually.”
As a side note, I used Calendly to help with my scheduling. Calendy links, or any scheduling link, work great with Gratavid call-to-action buttons.
That video and strategy led me to visit virtually with 60 donors. I presented to each in 15 minutes with six simple PowerPoint slides and shared their impact, an update, the community need, and that year’s request. I closed 100% of all virtual asks and increased my year-over-year giving by more than 10%.
Those conversations that I booked through Gratavid netted almost one million dollars in donations.
Gratavid helped me stand me in a unique and personal way, book more meetings, and helped me rekindle the real magic: the relationships I had with these donors.
WRITTEN BY
Frank Mumford, CFRE
VP of Customer Success @ Gratavid
Frank serves as the VP of Customer Success with Gratavid. Previously he was a Senior Donor Advisor at The Greater Twin Cities United Way where he was first introduced to the opportunity Gratavid presented in connecting and engaging with donors through video. He holds a B.A. in entrepreneurship and a B.S. in economics from Northern Michigan University, where he got his start as a student telethon fundraiser. He has more than 13 years of fundraising, sales, and marketing experience across the higher education and social service sectors. Frank is a Board Member of AFP Minnesota Chapter and the NMU Alumni Association.
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