104. Soliciting Major Gifts in a Virtual World - Lereca Monik

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Overview

Meet Lereca. She's an accomplished Houston-based major gift officer who knows all too well about the power of philanthropy. As a recipient of human and youth services, she's always had an innate desire to give back. And she's channeling that passion into activating gift officers to "thank to the bank" in an approach that equally uses the head and the heart to engage. She's walking us through virtual major gift asks and setting smart metrics.

Today’s Guest

Lereca Monik, Senior Director of Major Gifts, BakerRipley and Founder, LM Philanthropy

“The work that we do every single day might truly change the trajectory of someone’s life. Not just their life, but even their children’s children’s life. That is legacy leaving. Just remember, someone is waiting for you today to cultivate that donor and ask for the that major gift.”

— Lereca Monik, Director of Major Gifts, BakerRipley and Founder, LM Philanthropy

Episode Transcript

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Episode Highlights

Lereca’s story and journey to where she is today (3:20)
The history and mission of BakerRipley (7:00)
Asking for major gifts in a virtual world (10:30)
Lereca’s triangular method for cultivating major gifts (11:40)
Focus on stewardship and your retention efforts (14:00)
How to prepare for and ask for a major gift virtually (24:00)
Utilize the power of a thank you note (31:00)
A moment of philanthropy that deeply moved Lereca (35:30)
Lereca’s One Good Thing: develop a word for the year. It helps you move through your year with clarity, focus, and intentionality (38:00)

Powerful Quotes:

“Throughout my life. I've been a recipient of Human Services, my family and I, we've been able to connect with youth programs throughout my journey. And so I've always had this innate desire to be able to give back to community because of my childhood in my upbringing.” -Lereca

“Our vision is to crush in equities” -Lereca

“Major gift cultivation is all about relationships. As fundraising professionals, we are relationship builders.” -Lereca

“People give to people. We are emotional beings, and we are moved by our heart first.” -Lereca

“Sometimes we get so excited to share what we are doing that we miss an opportunity to really listen and connect.” -Lereca

“The more you thank your donors, the more you can bank on your donors.” -Lereca

“I encourage my team to find a way to steward early on.” -Lereca

“Your narrative from 2019 is entirely different. And so if we're needing bold philanthropy in this space, we need to cast that vision. And we need to say it in a way that shows that we can't do it without partners.” -Becky

“It's not just about the facts. It's not just about the project. At the end of the day it’s about the human being at the end of that.” -Jon

“The work that we do every single day might truly change the trajectory of someone's life. Not just their life, but even their children's children's life. That is legacy leaving. Just remember, someone is waiting for you today to cultivate that donor and ask for the that major gift.” -Lereca

“We as fundraisers are uniquely positioned to change someone’s life for the better.” -Lereca

“This year, my word is influence. How can I leverage my seat? How can I leverage my voice to be able to impact and influence someone's life from the lens that I sit in? So what's your word for the year? How can you grow and strengthen yourself to change someone's life for the better?” -Lereca

“I had a very colorful childhood. And that is probably why love is my favorite word.” -Lereca

“I truly believe that love can heal any relationship. And when we hear the word relationship, we often divert to a relationship between a male and a female or a relationship between someone we'd love but your relationship with work can be healed through love. Your relationship with yourself can be healed through love your relationship.” -Lereca

Lereca’s Triangular Method for Major Gift Cultivation

1. Start with the heart.

How can you connect with the donor?
How can you better share your stories?
How can you match your mission to their interest?

2. Move to your head.

What is your plan?
What would a discovery conversation look like?
How would you make someone fall in love with your mission?

3. At the center of major gifts cultivation: being able to connect (in a compelling and concise way) by which your donor needs you to connect to them.