3 Psychology Tricks To Use When Asking for Donations
An ask for a major gift can be the most daunting and the most rewarding part of a fundraiser’s job. Like salespeople, you work on building thick skin as the inevitable rejection ensues. You research, cultivate, practice, and yet you are still nervous when the time comes to ask for a significant gift for your organization.
It is natural of course, as human beings are hardwired to avoid rejection and being told “no”. The best thing to help you in this regard is a shift in mindset, and here are 3 psychology tips to keep in mind to help you when you get to that ask.
Remember that they are likely already giving - Giving to charitable causes feels good. Very good. In fact, so good that a majority of Americans do it every year regardless of income level. Six out of ten (or 60%) of American households participate in some sort of charitable giving annually, and giving continues to increase every year despite the pandemic. So don’t think in terms of “Will you give?” but rather “Will you give to my charity over the other charities in town?”. It becomes more of a conversation about your organization in comparison to others, and less about trying to compel charitable giving as a whole.
How will you use the gift? How will you demonstrate the impact of that gift? How will you recognize those that contributed to your mission? These are the questions that you want answered in your donor’s mind. Every charity in town can accept gifts from donors, but far fewer do all the correct things after receiving them.
Know that the number you are asking for is probably too low - On the surface, we as fundraisers tend to know this. Whether or not we practice what we preach however is a different story. We can use wealth screeners, internet research, or peer information (PRIDE’s favorite!) to determine a number that we believe a donor could contribute. However, there is still a possibility of being off base with the gift size that we are asking for. When in doubt it is better to aim high when asking for gifts. 64% of donors want to give more to charity than they are asked for, and donors are far less likely to be offended when asking for too much than too little.
Let’s say you have done all the right things, the right person is in the room asking, you’ve gotten the donor genuinely invested in your mission. As the stars align, you make the ask for $100,000. They smile, “Well, I’m flattered that you think that I have that much to give away, but truthfully I’m not that liquid right now. Tell you what though, I can give you $10,000 now, and another $40,000 over the next 3 years”. Think of this situation versus asking for a one-time $10,000 gift. You receive a very generous $10,000 cash realized gift today either way, but with one of these you have quintupled your donation over a longer pledge. The only difference between these two scenarios is that with one of them you aimed higher.
Detach from the Outcome - Have you ever met with a pushy salesperson who lacks listening skills, and only has an agenda to strongarm you into saying “yes”? Was that fun? For most of us, it is not. You can tell the lack of authenticity a mile away, and the same is true of your donors. Try your best to become as impartial as possible when making the ask and two things will happen. You will focus more on what the donor is actually telling you is important to them, and you will be far less concerned about being told “no”.
Maybe your organization is not in line with their particular values, or maybe they are not even considering any gift until next tax season because it does not make sense for them financially at the moment. Both of these along with many others are legitimate reasons for not giving a gift today. Your job is to build relationships with your donors, learn about the desires of your constituency, and draw lines between those values and your mission for the greatest possible impact. While you should care deeply about your mission and express your passion when meeting with potential donors, detaching from the outcome of the ask will make your overall success rate higher.
What do you think? Do you have any other tips for going into an ask with the right mindset that has worked for you? Register for a FREE Virtual Forum and join the conversation!
