I admit that I am human. I believe that it is easier to believe something that I have experienced with all my senses. I think it is much the same with foundation work. An idea, an organization, or a person can look excellent on paper though it isn´t until you have personal contact with that concept that you truly believe the concept.

I look back to my former life in fundraising for a nonprofit. Our success rate in recruiting new funders greatly increased after face-to-face contact was made. This contact was in the form of a site visit to one of our projects or a face-to-face meeting. In fact, I may be so bold as to say we averaged about an 85% success rate after that direct contact occurred. Thus reaffirming the fact that seeing is believing!

Recently, I had the opportunity to travel with the Fundación Saldarriaga Concha for a site visit. We visited Fundación Integrar in Jenesano. This rural-based organization that offers services to disabled youth invited us for their end of the year celebration. It was fabulous (and the view of the Colombian countryside amazing!). The energy in the event was overwhelming. The support from the local community was empowering. And the involvement of the youth they serve was inspiring. It reaffirmed the value of the Fundación´s support for this organization and also offered us a first-hand view of how we might help to continue to improve the services they offer. The visit inspired me to jot down a few tips for hosting a successful site visit (based on my experience in both hosting and being the guest of site visits):

1. Be Organized. Define all the logistics for the trip including times, directions, phone numbers, and contact people. It is important that everyone arrives calm, cool, and collected.
2. Be Prepared. Have an agenda for the visit (it can be a hidden agenda; just make sure you have a plan to keep it moving an interesting). It is important that you know ahead of time what you want to highlight, what you want to achieve in the visit, and what will be the follow-up activities.
3. Be Welcoming. Appoint someone to be the guide for the visit. They will meet the people when they arrive and ensure that they are introduced to the proper people and activities. It is great to involve the visitors in the organization—avoid treating them like royalty. They just need an actual idea of how the organization operates.
4. Say Thanks. Yes, everyone loves receiving a thank you note. It can be an email, a handwritten note, or a follow-up phone call. This thank you is also a great opportunity to highlight the conversation that you had during the visit, "Remember when you expressed interest in our expansion of the program, here are our 12 months plans…." It is an opening to discuss further funding.

These brief tips are just a few suggestions for a successful site visit. Once you have a format that works, write it down and use it over and over again. You can always be prepared for a visit from an individual supporter or a large potential donor. With a little preparation, you can avoid the stress and enjoy the interaction. Make your visitor a believer because as we all know seeing is believing!