Two Conversations. One Missed Opportunity.
At a recent industry conference, I overheard the head of a rather large, registered investment advisor (RIA) mention having to ask for another referral.
At the same conference an advisor I’d spoken with about our Community Giving Campaigns returned to our booth the following day. The previous evening, he'd spotted his client's fundraiser on LinkedIn. Now, our conversation about Community Giving made a lot more sense.
Before You Ask, Look Around.
Advisors spend a lot of time thinking about referrals and new business development. But what opportunities are they overlooking among their existing clients?
Schwab’s 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study pointed out that acquiring new clients through client referrals ranked as the top strategic initiative in four of the past five years among firms with at least $250 million in AUM.1
Consider your clients' LinkedIn, X or Meta feeds. One is organizing a community 5K. Another is recruiting friends for a Movember challenge. Someone's kid is livestreaming a Minecraft marathon to raise money for Gamers Outreach programs that bring gaming to hospitalized children.
Everyone is inviting people to participate in something. All. Day. Long. People your client knows. People your firm has never met.
The Opportunity is Already There.
Modern donor-advised fund technologies enable firms to offer fundraising capabilities through which clients can invite their communities to support eligible causes.
Through these campaigns, clients can launch and share their own fundraisers, track contributions and bring others into the effort, all through their firm’s giving platform.
The firm isn't inventing a cause or manufacturing a networking event. It's responding to an existing need.
The Community Is Bigger Than the Client.
The advisor's immediate relationship is with the client. A client's charitable activity brings together their friends, family, colleagues and sometimes complete strangers who share an interest in a cause.
When a firm makes that activity easy and repeatable, it can strengthen the client relationship while introducing its brand to a wider audience.
Remember those two conversations at the conference?
One advisor was asking for another referral. The other came back because he'd realized he could offer his client something without asking for anything in return.
Before asking for that next referral, wait.
Take another look at what your clients are already doing.
Important Disclosures & Definitions
1 Charles Schwab. 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study: Insights from the 2025 RIA Benchmarking Study, p. 6, “Top Strategic Initiatives."
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