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Tips for Making Your Fundraising Asks

Tuesday, February 1st, 2011

Making an ask is the penultimate act of a development professional. It’s the final step of what is often a long process, complete with identifying and cultivating prospects, doing research, getting people involved, and planning the final approach.

Asks are the fundraiser’s stock in trade, yet they can also cause anxiety, because in many cases so much is riding on each ask. As development professionals, we know that our organization’s ability to carry out its mission is directly tied to our ability to ask for… and receive… financial support for donors.

1. Know Your Prospect

First and foremost, before making any ask (and particularly a major ask), know your prospect. What is his or her background? How were they introduced to your organization? What other organizations do they support? What is their general financial situation?

Research your prospects well, and elicit information as part of the cultivation process. The better you know your prospect, the better your chances are of moving them towards a gift.

2. Connect Your Ask with Your Prospect’s Interests

As you research your prospect, try to figure out what his or her key interests are, and how you might align those interests with the needs of your organization. Donors generally have a couple of key charitable interests, and it is up to you to try to connect your donor’s interests with your non-profit’s mission and needs.

For example, if you are fundraising for a homeless shelter, and your prospect’s key interest is in helping lift children out of poverty, you may be able to craft a gift proposal that allows the donor to fund the nutritional and medical needs of the children at your shelter. Similarly, if you are working with a prospect who is interested in clean energy and you are fundraising for a church, the prospect may be interested in helping you lower your energy bills by funding solar panels on the roof.

Be creative, but as you seek ways to align donor’s interests, be sure you are filling your organization’s actual needs, and not just creating new work for your non-profit.

3. Know What You are Asking For

Before you make an ask, know what you are asking for. This may seem obvious, but I have seen many development pros go into asks not really sure of what they were hoping to accomplish, other than trying to score a major gift.

If you need for a $100,000 general operating gift, and the donor has that potential, then ask for it. If you want funding for your school’s drama program, and the donor seems interested in the arts, ask for $25,000 to fund your efforts. Know how much you are asking for, and how it will be used.

4. Have a Fall Back Plan

What if the donor says no? What if they say, “not right now, but maybe next year?” Is that a loss? Not necessarily. With a good fall back plan, you can turn that no into an “eventual yes.” Go into your ask knowing what you will say if the donor says no. Find a way to keep the donor engaged or get him or her even more involved (perhaps as a volunteer or advisor) so that the next time you ask… the answer will be “yes!”

5. Practice

I’ve been doing fundraising asks for more than a decade, yet I still practice before going in to see a prospective donor. Practicing (not memorizing… practicing) helps you feel more confident in your approach… and as we all know, confidence matters. Because each donor is different, each ask is different. Spend 5 minutes rehearsing in the car before you go in. It will make a big difference.

6. Keep it High Energy

When making an ask, keep your conversation high energy. Don’t be a downer, sitting meekly in your prospect’s office, fiddling your thumbs. Be excited about your mission. Talk passionately about what a difference this gift will make. Tell stories, elicit tears, be a forceful advocate for your non-profit organization.

7. Cast a Big Vision

Donors like to get invested in causes bigger then themselves… we all do. Make sure you show your prospects the big picture of what your school, church, or charity is trying to do. Cast a big… huge… amazing vision about what you are trying to accomplish and why. Quantify your results, project what you can do with this gift, and make your prospect see what a life-changing experience it will be being involved with your organization.

Tags: charities, Fundraising, Non-profit organization, organization
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Social Entrepreneurship Brings Challenges

Thursday, May 13th, 2010

As more charities develop business ventures to further their missions and generate revenue, a series of challenges is erupting both for organizations and for fund raisers, according to a panel of fund-raising consultants who met in Baltimore just before the Association of Fundraising Professionals opened its annual meeting.

Charities that are successful at raising money through social entrepreneurship may have a harder time making a case to donors that they still need to provide support, noted Kristina Carlson, president of Ketchum, a Pursuant Company, in Dallas. She spoke about a charity she has worked with that had gone public with a business venture, raising $300-million in an initial stock offering. “Their major-gifts officer quit,” she said.

On the other hand, the opportunity to invest in certain business ventures by nonprofit organizations—such as helping to bring new drugs or medical treatments to market—can spark supporters' imagination, said Peter J. Fissinger, president of Campbell & Company, in Chicago. “Donors are very interested in contributing to future of our economy.”

But as with for-profit entrepreneurs, business ventures always carry risk, as audience member Henry (Hank) Goldstein, a partner in the Oram Group, in New York, noted. “You have an inalienable right to go broke,” he said. “Just because your heart is pure and your motivation sincere, doesn't mean you won't fail.”

The panel was moderated by Holly Hall, a Chronicle features editor, and sponsored by the Giving Institute and Giving USA Foundation.

Technology’s Limits

Speakers also debated the role of technology and data analysis in modern-day fund raising. Some panel members said that too many fund raisers are leaning too heavily on those tools at the expense of face time with supporters. Ideally, fund raisers should spend 70 percent of their time with potential donors, says Keith Curtis, founder of the Curtis Group, in Virginia Beach, Va.

“If they're just sitting in their office looking at things, either they're not going to have a job, or the nonprofit isn’t going to last,” said Mr. Curtis.

While charities’ efforts to raise money from social networks like Facebook have thus far not lived up to the hype, Ms. Carlson said that nonprofit groups should still look to such outlets as a way to prove broad support for their causes to donors, many of whom are “obsessed” with the wonders of Web 2.0.

“How many of you have been in a meeting with a major donor who asked, ‘What are we going to do about Twitter? What’s our social-media strategy?” she asked.

Having a robust presence online, she said, allows charities to go back to those same donors and say, “Look, we have this online community, there are all these young people who care about this cause, we just need your money to take it to the next level.”

Tags: business venture, charities, donors, for-profit, Fundraising, missions, nonprofit, social entrepreneurship, technology
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