Carl Manfield, Senior Partner of Fundraising Co-Pilot, shared numerous tips for Making the Successful Ask. Fundraising efforts are in vain if you don’t know how to ask effectively.
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Mr. Manfield offered seven cardinal rules of asking for gifts:
- Know your prospect.
- Understand that people give for their reasons, not your organization’s reasons.
- Know what fundraising is: it’s the process of bridging the gap between the donor’s interests and the case for your organization.
- Make face-to-face solicitations. An in-person meeting where the prospect is asked to consider giving a specific amount has a 90% probability of producing a gift.
- Listen more than you talk at the face-to-face meeting.
- Learn the four-step process:
- Describe the problem that prospect’s share
- Present the solution to the problem
- Qualify how your organization is suited to provide the solution
- Get a commitment for financial support or for a follow-up touch
- After asking, quit talking!
