Werth-It Fundraising Blog

I wrote the following for a business blog, so it can apply to the moment you ask for a raise in your salary as well as requesting a donation.

Whether you’re selling a product, a service, a nonprofit cause, or even yourself, at some point you have to ask for money.  When it comes down to that magic moment, how do you ask?  Since I’m a professional fundraiser and also a consultant who sells my services for money, I’m very familiar with asking for money.  Here are some lessons I’ve learned that apply to anything from selling a product to asking for a raise.

·         Practice making the request.  Particularly if it’s a large sum and you haven’t done this before, you need to practice saying the amount.  I suggest to my fundraising students that they call ten people they know and ask to practice with them.  To brainstorm ten people, I suggest that they put on the list:

1)      Your mother.  If your mother isn’t alive, use someone else’s mom.  A woman who has listened to a six-year-old will be happy to listen to you.  I know this sounds sexist but it works.  God bless moms!

2)      The two people who, if you had a flat tire at midnight, would come and get you, and not even give you too much hassle about what you were doing driving around at midnight!

3)      The seven people who would come to your wedding or recommitment ceremony, even if it meant going across the country, and even if you asked them to wear stupid formal-wear matching outfits (isn’t that what we’re asking bridesmaids and groomsmen to do?)

I had a friend who was charging $30 an hour, and I suggested she practice saying the following, “My fee is $75 an hour, two-hour minimum.”  When she first started, her eyes were blinking and twitching and she stammered over the amount, but soon she got more skilled at it.  If you practice saying something to ten people, you’ll overcome your hesitations.

·         When you are actually in front of the person, say the dollar amount and shut up.  Give them a chance to respond.  When I do this, they usually answer within 10-12 seconds.  People hate silence.  While you’re waiting, you can count the seconds in your head.  The longest anyone ever went against me was 54 seconds.  I’ve had other people tell me that it took 2-3 minutes for someone to respond.

·         In fundraising, we have a rule, “If the other person speaks two-thirds of the time, you’ll get the check.”  So, in the time leading up to ‘The Ask’ as we call it in fundraising, let the other person speak.  Ask what they want, what they’re looking for, or whatever questions make sense.  So if you’re selling a product, you want them to talk about what they need.  If you’re selling your services, you want them to feel that you understand what they need.  Instead of pushing your benefits on them, ask them what’s important to them.  Then show them how you provide what they need.  If you’re not sure how much you speak compared to other people, just record a conversation, estimate how much you spoke, and then actually time each side of it.  You might be surprised to find that you overestimate how much other people speak!

If you practice just these three things – preparing in advance by practicing on others, saying the amount and shutting up, and letting the other person speak two-thirds of the time – you should measurably increase your sales and how much you get. 

Good luck!

Katherine Wertheim, CFRE, is a professional fundraiser.  She teaches fundraising and board development to nonprofit staff and board members worldwide.  Her blog is at www.werth-it.com/blog.

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If you have questions about fundraising, please write me, Katherine Wertheim, CFRE, at katherine@werth-it.com.