Stop believing the lies and say YES instead.
I talk with a lot of fundraisers who are holding back.
They have a great cause, generous supporters, and real, tangible impact happening every day.
But when it comes time to actually communicate with their donors (to send the email, make the call, share the need) they freeze up.
The fear of annoying people is so strong that they go quiet on the very people who raised their hand and said, “I want to help.”
If that’s you, I want to give you a simple framework created by my friend Caitlin Padanyi to keep in mind the next time you’re second-guessing whether to hit send.
It’s called a YES mindset.
Y — Your community wants to give more.
I know. It sounds too simple, or you’re too discouraged by the no’s to believe it.
But I promise you it’s true.
Most donors aren’t annoyed by you. They’re not rolling their eyes when your email hits their inbox. Some are even delighted when you show up with something meaningful they can be part of.
Sure, some will opt out, and you should respect that. But the assumption that people don’t want to hear from you? That’s almost always more about your fear than their reality.
Start by assuming generosity and believe that the people who gave to you once would love to give again if you just gave them a reason and a chance.
E — Engage them frequently.
One organization I know of only ever sent two emails per campaign.
Two. Not ten. Two.
And guess what? They didn’t raise much money.
Then one day, they tried sending four.
Revenue nearly doubled from the previous campaign.
Most of the gifts came from emails three and four. Those weren’t annoyed donors giving out of guilt. Those were busy people who missed the first two emails because they were running companies, traveling, and juggling life.
Turns out, people needed more chances to say yes, not fewer emails
Here’s another way to think about this. Imagine going quiet on your closest friends because you were afraid of bothering them.
What would happen?
You’d either miss out on a deeper relationship, or you’d be telling yourself a story about your friends that probably isn’t true.
Frequency in fundraising works the same way. It’s serving busy, generous people who want to help. It only becomes pestering when we make it that way.
S — Share real needs clearly.
This is where the fear gets loudest. We’re all afraid to be too direct. And so we default to polished success stories because raw honesty feels risky. Or we hint about a gift instead of asking.
When I think about sharing needs clearly, I think about a CEO whose organization serves vulnerable people in her city’s downtown core.
For a long time, she was afraid to be clear about the need.
Fortunately, someone encouraged her to strip away the polish and share the most honest version of what her community was facing.
Her first email sharing real needs clearly?
It raised $20,000.
Not because she had a fancy campaign. Because she told the truth.
People can’t help solve a problem they don’t know exists. And the biggest reason people don’t give more isn’t that they’re tired of hearing from you. It’s that you haven’t clearly shown them the difference they could make.
That’s it. Y-E-S.
Your community wants to give more if you’ll only engage them more frequently and share real needs more clearly.
This is not complicated. But it does require you to push past the voice in your head telling you to play it safe.
Next week, before you send your next email or make your next call, ask yourself,
“Am I holding back because of something a donor told me? Or because of something I told myself?”
If it’s the latter, try saying YES instead.
Happy Friday Friends!
-Michael