I read with interest, Seth Godin’s post this morning called “It doesn’t hurt to ask” which is about asking for something properly. And as fundraisers, we all know how important it is to ask for something properly.
Last night, Tara and I went out the The Keg – we just got a new one built here in our growing village of Waterdown… very exciting. Now The Keg is a bit of the ‘fast food of steaks’ but the thing I love about it, is that they are always consistent, or they have been in my experience. You can go to any Keg and the service is always great, food is always well prepared and tastes pretty darn good – and I can say that because I am so often disappointed with food and presentation at most restaurants, especially when you start to pay over $100 for dinner. Anyhow, this isn’t a post about branding. Back to the point.
I asked our great server – what’s the secret here? I know restaurants like the Keg get first dibs on the best beef and we at the grocery stores can choose from the second rate grade and cuts but what else? He told me about some aging they do and the grills – they have these massive grills blazing back in the kitchen. A thought crossed my mind – can I see the kitchen? And that’s what I asked him – “What would I have to do for a tour of the kitchen?” He said he didn’t know but he would talk to his GM. Within minutes his GM came to our table and asked if we would join him on a private tour of the kitchen. Well to say the least, I was not only surprised but excited – just ask Tara. I asked for something and surprise of surprises, I got it. Awesome!
One more – this week I’ve started working with a woman named Laura Roeder (who I hope will guest blog sometime in the near future). Laura runs a small company dedicated to “creating fame for your company using social media”. I decided to work with her because while I am doing a lot of work via social media, like this blog, I know that I could be doing it better – and as a bonus, transfer my learning to my clients – like you. Especially since social media is such a hot topic these days.
I spoke to Laura about my blog which focuses on charities communicating better with their donors, and some of the fun I’ve been having with twitter (@ideadesign_ca), facebook and linkedin (ideadesign) but I would like to see a little more traffic, a little more action, a little more dialogue with others. I’ve dug into a bit of a niché in that there are not many others who are blogging about communication and charities exclusively. Some of the big fish out there, The Agitator, Donor Power Blog touch on it once in a while but I feel I offer a unique perspective on the issue and more importantly, reminding charities that this isn’t rocket science.
Good fundraising and communication is about using common sense.
So Laura suggests I need to be where my people are. Where my audience is – I should get a coffee and hang out there. Well, I am trying that I think. She continues, don’t start at the bottom and work your way up – start at the top. Go to Tom at The Agitator, ask do to a guest post. Pitch him on the content of your article and ask him. Worse case scenerio, all he is going to say is “No”.
Of course. Of course!
Thinking back to working with Simon Geoghegan of Epiphany Coaches, we talked about that all the time. If you want something, ask for it. Will the answer always be yes? Of course not – but often it might be. We all have this fear, or I do, of being rejected. But, if you want something, ask for it.
This is a real long winded way of making a few points about you and your charity.
1. Be where your donors are. Hang out with them. Learn their language and be relevant to them.
2. If you want to fundraise, sooner or later you are going to have to ask for donations.
3. And when you do ask, ask in a way that is appropriate to your donors. Like Seth says, “If a prospect walks into your dealership and you walk up and say, “Please pay me $200,000 right now for this Porsche,” you might close the sale. But I doubt it.”
But the bottom line is, if you never ask, you will never get it. And that’s something we can all learn from.
Great post John. Can’t help referring people interested in “Asking Properly” to do what they have to to get hold of “Asking Properly” by George Smith.
One of the best fundraising books ever.
Happy holiday.
Thanks David! I agree completely – just one of the few books that every true fundraiser should own… Thanks for coming by.
[...] sales | Tags: customer, Customer relationships, customer relevance, marketing, sales Idea Design’s blog about asking is right on – and applies to businesses as much as to charities. At the end are [...]
Good blog, John.
You already know my feelings on the subject. So I will just add that I think your topical blogs would be a great addition to The Agitator.
Cheers!
Thanks for your comments Laurie – now lets just see if The Agitator will have me. Cheers!
I read this. Contemplated. Then walked into a quasi-popular stationery boutique in Vancouver with a stack of cards for my charitable greeting card company in hopes that I could garner more sales (and, this, more donations) for our end benficiary the Starlight Foundation of Canada.
I said hello.
I asked to speak to the owner.
And I asked if they’d like to review my card line, feature it in their store on a trial basis, and support the Starlight Foundation as a result. They said. “most definitely.” And I was floored.
Thank you, John.
And please bring me to the Keg next time you go.
Ah Kim! Thank you for sharing your story! It’s great to hear positive things happening from positive action! Congrats.