It's Never Too Late to Ask

It's never too late to scour your donor records to see which of your top donors have not given this year, or given at a level commensurate with their past history or capacity, or are behind on a gift commitment.

The simple fact is — we all need to be prompted and reminded.

Asking is a natural part of a donor relationship. We invest our resources — time, money and other assets - in people and organizations we believe in wholeheartedly.

Sometimes we make these investments on our own. But more often, we need prompting. It may be prompting by a request — that is the most specific. Or it may be a prompting by an interaction.

There is a reason why churches still take an offering each week, and why churches are moving to online giving and onsite giving stations as regular church attendance is declining.

Fundraising superstar (and my good friend and mentor) Jerry Panas tells the story of a Girl Scout who won an award as top cookie salesperson. The perhaps unlikely recipient was from an inner-city neighborhood. When asked for the secret behind her success, Jerry relates her sharing, "Sometimes you just have to stop the chit chat and ask." Excellent advice for all of us!

"Giving and Volunteering in the U.S.," a landmark Independent Sector study reported that 57 percent of American households were asked to give to nonprofit organizations and that 61 percent gave when asked. Repeatedly, when we survey and interview our clients' donors and non-donors, not being asked is at the top of the reasons people do not give - along with a lack of connectivity to the organization/cause or understanding of where the money will go.

Our greatest successes are rooted in asking people who are already connected to us. Asking is a part of genuine relationship building. In asking, you will be able to glean more about the donor's interests, concerns and circumstances, and you are really asking your best friends to vote with their wallet or pocketbook.

If you have done your homework, know your donora and their interests, and ask in an appropriate way, you will get the added bonus of strengthening the relationship — no matter what the gift decision is at that time.

We know that the best approach is in person. However if this is not feasible by year-end, a phone call or a letter can be effective. Just be sure that your effort respects the prospective donor, honors the relationship and gives them an opportunity to make an investment in something that you already know (or will confirm) is important to them.

A year-end direct-mail or e-mail appeal often yields better results than any other appeal during the year. It's not too late to get out an appeal, and it certainly isn't too late to look at a list of your top donors (whatever that means in terms of giving and size of the group for you) and make plans for personal follow-up by your key staff and volunteers.

Nelson Andrews was a wonderful mentor and chair of our firms' advisory board. Always full of enthusiasm, encouragement and wisdom, Nelson did not like endowments. His reason? He felt you needed to hit the streets every year to hear from your supporters. In making an ask, he reasoned, the giving response was really an answer to the question, "How are we doing?" Be sure you ask this important question of your supporters — and especially your best supporters!

It's never too late!

Jeff Jowdy is the president and founder of Lighthouse Counsel and a member of the FundRaising Success Editorial Advisory Board. Reach him at jeff@lighthousecounsel.com