How to Talk to Big Donors About Mental-Health Programs

Mental health is an intensely personal subject. There’s a persistent taboo about speaking openly about it, and some people feel a sense of shame about their mental-health struggles. That can make it tricky for fundraisers to ask wealthy donors to support mental-health programs.

But a growing number of nonprofit and development leaders are finding a way. They’ve figured out how to engage donors on the topic and even persuade some to publicly share their experiences to win support from other donors. Some of their advice:

• Tell stories. You can share why a mental-health program is important with a lot of research and statistics. But until you include the human element, your outreach is not going to resonate with most donors, says Ian Adair, formerly the executive director of Gracepoint Foundation, a nonprofit that raises money for a large mental-health care and substance-abuse services provider in Tampa, Fla.
  
• Get donors involved. Make potential supporters feel like they are part of your team, says Emily Christian, senior director of principal gifts at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center and Health Science Colleges Advancement . Don’t just have lukewarm conversations about your group’s mental-health programs over lunch and then show up on visit No. 4 and hand them a proposal, Christian says. Take potential supporters on site visits when possible, and introduce them to the organization’s leaders and subject-matter experts. Connect donors to what your organization is doing over time and build that relationship before soliciting a big gift.
  

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• Be compassionate. When potential donors share that they or someone they love has had mental-health challenges, recognize that they are likely working through grief over what could have been done differently, says Meg Brzyski Nelson, president of Children’s Wisconsin Foundation and the health system’s chief development officer. She says that’s true no matter how hard-nosed they may be in their business lives. Approach your fundraising interactions with them with the idea that you can help them get involved in something that offers personal healing and hope to others who are struggling.
  
• Do your research. Learn how big donations have benefited mental-health organizations in other parts of the country. Then point out to potential donors all the ways similar support could help your organization, Christian says. She points out that this will help fundraisers better formulate what kinds of donor support might be possible and appropriate for your potential big donors.
  
• Hit the books. It’s just as important for development professionals raising money for mental-health programs to understand the science of mental and behavioral health as it is to understand the emotional struggle, Brzyski Nelson says. Make every effort to understand the science and to also understand the challenges some people might face when trying to find therapists or treatment so that you can clearly explain those factors to potential big donors.

• Be authentic. If you have personal experience with mental-health issues and you’re willing to share, talk about it with donors, Brzyski Nelson says. Your candor can offer donors an opening to talk about how they or a loved one has struggled. It can also help both of you figure out which specific mental-health programs at your nonprofit might be the best fit for the donor to support.
  
• Take care of yourself. Adair, who has publicly shared his and his family’s struggles with mental illness, says it’s important that fundraisers understand the emotional cost of talking about personal mental health. People need to be far enough along on their own path to wellness that they can share their experiences without causing themselves more pain.