How to attract high networth individuals to fund your community projects

One of the most elusive sources of funding comes from High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs). These lucrative members of society have large liquid assets which makes them an ideal source for securing significant donations to help run your community projects. As well as helping your organisation financially, these individuals are often highly connected in numerous industries and can offer access to connections who can help in a multitude of other areas, such as graphic designers or social media experts. These are all vital for raising the profile of your organisation, which can help secure further funds, and ensure longevity. Here are NPGs top tips to attracting HNWIs to fund your community projects:

Networking

A good starting point to reaching HNWIs, is to attend networking and fundraiser events. Be sure to choose the correct ones; HNWIs are mostly over 50 and come from well-educated backgrounds, and so University-based functions would be an ideal choice. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic, this has become increasingly difficult. The upside is that these same people will now be spending a lot more time on the internet, and similar events will be accessible online, meaning you can access them from anywhere. Find these events on University social media feeds, and across LinkedIn.

As well as attracting HNWIs, networking will more likely connect you to agents, who are responsible for the day-to-day decisions for portfolio management. As such, getting buy-in from agents can be the crucial step to securing funds. This is an important theme when trying to gain access to HNWIs; the need to reach them through others. Some refer to this as the “Hub and Spoke” model. As a task, you should try to identify some HNWIs (the “hubs”) and their key contacts (the “spokes”), and try to map a route to them through an existing contact.

Social Media

Prior to the pandemic, it was well established that HNWIs spend a significant time on the internet. As such, it is vital to create a strong social media presence surrounding your project. This should be visually appealing and use a range of outputs, ranging from simple infographics to videos. When dealing with HNWIs, it is important to remember that they are people, and so an effective way to attract them is to appeal to their fundamental human nature. Where possible, use case studies to create the emotional hook, and then follow up with hard statistics demonstrating the extent of the need for your intervention. In creating all of this content, consistent branding is vital. You need to build recognition and a brand identity, so make sure this has been well-established before embarking on your social media journey.

Don’t limit yourself to one platform. You should save time by creating product templates that can be used across various social media platforms, and make use of various free scheduling tools to plan in advance. This will allow you to maximise your outreach with more general content, and allow a strong foundation for you to then tailor further content to the intended audience. With this tactic, there is a good chance that HNWIs will notice your project, and offer their assistance. In a similar vein, social media can allow you to attract the attention of HNWI agents.

Reaching out to Individuals

Sometimes, you’ll have to be more proactive in your approach. Instead of attracting HNWIs, you might have to pursue them. Understanding your audience is an integral part for the success of any organisation, and HNWIs are no different. You will need to undertake a tailored approach for each individual. Follow their social media to understand their needs, their desires, their likes and dislikes. This will help you to create a bespoke package when you approach the HNWI. Their time is important, so be sure to quickly build a strong rapport, and be concise in your proposal. Beyond the emotional appeal, try to create a more comprehensive incentive, such as a unique social media campaign highlighting the work that has been done as a result of the donation.

Here at NPG, we value our focus on sustainability and promoting the long-term viability of an organisation. As such, we would recommend creating long-term partnerships with any individual contacts you meet. A top tip from us is to create a roster to ensure regular contact. In creating this document, you should clearly outline your aims, frequency of intended contacts, and any important notes about what the individual has said. This will help you maintain your network, which is vital after all the hard-work and energy spent into building it.

Showcase your value

HNWIs are successful because of their ability to understand value. As such they will only invest in projects and opportunities where they can see a real impact. As a result, you will need to show that your organisation adds tangible value to society.

This shouldn’t just be a part of your programme to attract HNWIs, however it will play a vital role in it. You should always seek to monitor the work you’re doing through both qualitative and quantitative methods. This can involve survey responses, in-depth case studies or findings from interviews with beneficiaries. Your aim should be to publish annual impact reports, which outline the level of change each of your projects is bringing. This will help put numbers and stories to the success of your organisation, and make your opportunity much more attractive to investors. It is widely known that HNWIs want to feel they are contributing to improving lives, so be sure that in all of your external communications and PR work, you exude optimism and desire to make the world a better place.

Conclusion

These are just a few ways to attract HNWIs, and it’s important to remember this is a slower approach to securing funds, and should be coupled with other avenues. The time taken to implement the above approaches into the running of your organisation is incredibly worthwhile, with the end results being incredibly rewarding when they come to fruition.