The secret to a fundraising windfall might well be — if you know how to choose, contact, woo and even groom the right celebrity spokesperson for your organization.

By Bill J. Harrison

“Eventually,” she says, “there may be an opportunity to involve the celebrity with an appearance or some interaction with clients or children.

“You need to emotionally connect them to the organization,” Tateel adds. “Once they are connected emotionally, then maybe they will be willing to be a spokesperson and do more for you. Organizations must understand that the most valuable commodity the celebrity has is their time. So you don’t want to ask too much of a celebrity in terms of their time if they are not connected to your organization. Start by asking for a little bit of time, and then get them emotionally invested in your cause.”