How I Closed a Million Dollars in Gifts Using Gratavid

Using Gratavid, Zoom, and Calendy to secure over $1,000,000 in gifts

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.