Four ways you might be hurting your fundraising without even realizing it.
Here are four ways you might be hurting your fundraising without even realizing it:
1. Saying “no” for people.
Do you ever find yourself NOT asking someone to give because you think they won’t?
Maybe you think they’ll say “no” because they already gave earlier in the year. Maybe you think they’ll say “no” for financial reasons. Maybe you think they’ll say “no” because you somehow misstepped in the relationship.
Remember this:
It’s not your job to say “no” for people.
Your job is to give people the opportunity to tell you “no” and many will.
But remember… sometimes they say yes.
2. Spending too much time NOT connecting with givers.
Does fundraising ever feel like running on a treadmill — you’re working hard but not going anywhere?
If that’s you, you might be spending too much time reacting to everyone else’s priorities (internal emails, meetings, etc.) and not enough time proactively prioritizing the critical work of developing relationships with your champions.
How do you break the cycle?
Block off an hour on your calendar two or three times each week and commit to only using that time to have meaningful two-way interactions with your champions.
Guard that time fiercely.
During those blocks of time, your only job is to connect with your champions and/or reach out and schedule future times to connect.
You can meet in-person, but you don’t have to. Phone calls count. A volley of back-and-forth text messages count. A grateful and heartfelt personal email, where you ask a meaningful question and they respond, counts.
Start with a goal of 3 meaningful interactions per week and see if you can work your way up from there.
3. Speaking more than you listen.
Stop spending so much time talking TO your champions, and start spending more time talking WITH your champions.
Usually, this happens for one of three reasons:
- You talk too much because you’re blessed with the gift of gab.
- You talk too much because you’re nervous or think you have to convince people to give.
- You talk too much because you’re passionate and have a burning desire to evangelize others to the cause.
No matter why you’re talking too much, the result is the same.
You’re hurting your fundraising.
The most effective fundraising professionals I’ve known were not the smooth-talking, great in front of crowd, charming, persuasive, larger-than-life personalities. Those are nice qualities to have, but they’re not required.
Why?
Because fundraising isn’t about convincing people to give.
Fundraising is about being curious about people, asking questions about the impact THEY want to have, learning the difference THEY want to make in the world, and then inviting them to give to make that difference happen.
So stop talking so much. Learn to ask better questions. Give people time to respond. Work on being comfortable with silence. Truly listen to people.
That’s when the magic happens.
4. Bragging on your organization.
Early in my career, I once had someone graciously listen for 20+ minutes as I told him about all of the great things our organization was accomplishing before he finally interrupted with, “Wow. Things are clearly going really well for you all. It doesn’t sound like you need my help.”
Crash. And. Burn.
There’s a fine line between telling people about the good things happening in your organization and bragging.
The anecdote?
No matter how good things are, always make space for the giver to make it better.
It sounds like this:
“Here’s the problem or challenge we exist to solve: _______. Here’s the solution we’re working toward: _______. Here’s the impact we’ve had so far: _______. Here’s how you can make an even bigger impact on all of that by partnering with us: ___________. Would you consider a gift of _______?”
Never forget these wise words from Jeff Brooks:
“You might think your donors are giving to your organization. They aren’t. They’re giving to make something good happen. In their eyes, your organization is a way to put their values into action. So if your call to action is “support us,” you are missing the point as they see it. Make the call to action to make something specific and good happen. Then you’re on target.”
