Making the Ask - Directory of Social Change · Why fear making the ask? (funds for NGO articles)...
Transcript of Making the Ask - Directory of Social Change · Why fear making the ask? (funds for NGO articles)...
Making the Ask:Build Your Confidence!
March 2017Trainer: Layla [email protected]
© Layla Moosavi 2017 and© Trudy Hayden 2015
Making the AskTrainer: Trudy Hayden
10:00 INTRODUCTION
Preparation involved before making the askThe donor relationship: a model of mutual investmentStages of cultivation: when is the right time to ask?
11:15 BREAK
11:30 Planning a cultivation strategy and scenario for the askPractice case studyDonor /sponsor role play
1:00 LUNCH
2:00 CASE STUDY/group work
3:00 BREAK
3:15 Reflections on case studyConfirm the relationshipWorking with Trustees
4:00 CLOSE
What is an ask
• Its an actual question, a request, a solicitationMore effective if it is:• Specific• Clear• With an objective
What is a Fundraising Ask? (the fundraising authority by Joe Garecht
• Not Every Ask is for Money
• people on that list who are ready to be asked for a donation. Others may • know nothing or not enough about your organisation need to be educated about
your needs• Types of ask• Money• In kind gift• To come to an event• An informal dinner• to visit a project • To introduce you to someone• To ask to make an ask for you
Analogy : few dates before entering a relationship long term
Making the ask
• One of the most fundamental fundraising skills
• Important skill to develop• Makes a crucial difference for an organisation’s survival
Why fear making the ask? (funds for NGO articles)
• A lack of confidence either individually or in the organisation
• Fear of rejection or failure• Respect for the potential donor• Belief that they will say no• Fear of damaging relations
Preparation is key
• The secret ingredient is not just how to make the ask but what you need to do and prepare BEFOE you make the ask
• Knowledge is power and confidence• Fil to prepare / prepare to fail or face obstacles• Knowledge gives room for negotiation• Preparation is key to information
Knowledge is confidence
Organisation
Donor
The CharityThe Donor
A Relationship of Mutual Investment
Partnership
• “A good solid partnership where there is mutual respect, benefit and understanding is key in a truly successful donor/sponsor relationship.”
Essential Partnership Elements• Both parties• Agree/agreement• Mutual interest• Achieving Mission• Goals• Give and take• Responsibility• Authority• Respect• Listening• Research• Monitoring
• Success• Trust• Clear Communication• Information made public
(transparency)• Joining forces• Responsibility• Negotiation• Evaluation• Understanding• Preparation• Information• Pricing and packaging
Internal and external Preparation
In Front of an Audience
Knowledge helps you making that ask in front of an audience
Internal preparation
• Understanding your organisation• Case for support• Funder & resource audit• Planning• Strategy• Organisation and fundraising synergy
Understanding your organisation• Vision and Mission
• Objectives
• Positioning
• Strategy
• Ethics/values
What needs to happen
• YOU need to believe in your organisation• YOU need to understand your organisation• YOU need to value and understand the difference your organisation makes
• Don’t underestimate the donor• Make them visualise what you do• Make it tangible• Make them see where the money is going• You need to have the confidence to delegate the ask to someone else where necessary
The Organisation
Governance and peopleMission and achievements
Strategy: future needs and response
Trust and Belief
Project/Purpose
History and contextMethod and outcome
Leadership
Understanding and Expectations
Case for Support• What is unique about your organisation (USP)• Are there similar organisations that do what you do?• How does your organisation stand out and differ from
similar causes and organisations or service providers?• What are the specific needs of your organisations/project?• How many people do you directly help?• Are you national or local?• If you did not exist what would happen?• Useful statistics about the need and the problem?• Is there a current gap you are trying to fill?• Are you a leader in your field?• What is your objective and why do you need the funding?
Case for support elements• Need• Vision/mission/values• Plans for future• Services: features and
benefits• Unique selling points (USP) • Innovation, cost
effectiveness, sustainability• How you are portrayed in
the press • Public image and brand• Achievements, impacts and
outcomes
• Who you support• Who supports you• Who is your audience• Financial goals• Leadership of organisation• Trustees experience• How can donors get
involved and benefit• Benefit to companies• Use of volunteers• Relationship with funders
Business case for support
• Charity audience reach‐ direct and indirect• Charity's demographic group of interest to a company• Does charity reach any particular demographic sectors ?• How beneficial is brand association to a company?• Does the charity offer any money can’t buy experiences?• Do you share the same vales?• How will this be cost effective?• Will there be a return on investment
Putting yourself in companies’ shoes
• • Charity audience reach‐direct and/or indirect ?• • Is the charity demographic group of interest to a
company?• • Does charity reach any particular demographic sectors ?• • How beneficial is brand association to a company?• • Does the charity offer any money can’t buy experiences?• • How can the company potential earn more sales and• revenue ?• • Are there other ways to get the company on board as• starting point ?• • Are there any CSR benefits?• • Are there any employee benefits ?
Preparation• Understanding your potential donor/sponsor • know your audience/donor/funder• Invest time in finding out about them• Approaching potential donors/sponsors/funders
effectively • Content of initial email/phone conversation• Preparation for meeting prospective donors pre‐ask stage • Preparing the pitch/proposal/ask• Presentation • Relationship building turned to long term partnership• Cultivation and evaluation
Cultivation
Building Trust, Understanding and Expectations
Donor Cultivation Profile
contacts & history
interest & rationale
cultivation & information
range & recognition
concerns: yours/theirs
Prospect research basic template• Any up to date news or articles
about the company and the contact person?
• Where does the company stand within its industry‐positioning?
• About their company • How do they see themselves as a
brand/company? • What are their key objectives? • What are their marketing
objectives? • Do they have a track record or
previous support of charities and/or arts organisations ? Is it similar?
• How the sponsorship was allocated and proportioned in the past? E.g. percentage to arts, charities, voluntary organisations, events
• Are there any funding/sponsorship guidelines
• Are they a socially and culturally aware organisation? How?
• What presence do they have in your area i.e. where your projects are based?
• Why would they want to support you?
• What are their motivations? • How was meeting arranged?
trust & belief + understanding & expectations =the scenario:
the timingthe amount
the participantsthe script
What do you respond to?
What is a story• A good story is about something the audience decides is interesting
or important.
• A great story often does both by using storytelling to make important news interesting.
• The public is exceptionally diverse. Though people may share certain characteristics or beliefs, they have an untold variety of concerns and interests.
• So anything can be news. But not everything is newsworthy
American Press Institute
Important elements
• Unique selling point• Focus on benefits• Understand your audience, beneficiaries, supporters and stakeholders
• Reputation , experience and credibility• Testimonials and case studies, quotes• Achievements and successes• A journey/story
What Makes a Good Ask? (the fundraising authority by Joe Garecht
• A good ask is an actual question inviting a person or company to take a specific concrete step on behalf of your organization. Let’s break that down:
• First, an ask has to be an actual question… meaning that it starts with words like, “Will you…” or “Would you be willing…” When you talk to someone but don’t actually ask a yes or no question, it’s not really an ask. Saying things like, “I hope at some point you will consider…” or “I’d really like it if you would…” is not an effective way to make a fundraising ask.
• Second, an ask invites a person to take a concrete step. That step need not be writing a check, it could be to come to an event, pass out fliers, whatever. It just needs to be a concrete step. Asking someone to, “think about your role with our charity” is not a concrete ask.
• Lastly, an ask should be specific… that means, you should ask for a specific amount, or attendance at a specific event, or volunteer hours for a specific project, etc. Asking, “Would you contribute $500 to our school?” Is at least twenty times more effective than asking your prospect, “Would you make a contribution to our school?”
• Likewise, asking your friend, “Will you come to an event sometime?” is not nearly as effective as asking, “Will you come to the Chili Cook‐Off on January 21st?”
• When people are asked for a specific amount, or to take a specific action, they are much more likely to give, and are much more likely to give at a higher level.
Checklist Before You Ask
Is the donor ready? How much does the donor know about the organisation: its mission, its goals, its work and its needs? How well does the donor understand the purpose for which the gift will be made? How well have you prepared the donor to trust both the integrity and the competence of the organisation?
What is the best way to frame the request to this particular donor? As a philanthropic contribution based on compassion or civic pride or moral commitment to the mission? As an investment in a promising or successful organisation? As a catalyst for change? As a challenge to others by setting an example?
How much are you asking for? How has the amount of the request been determined? Are you being overly cautious? Unreasonably bold? Will the request be framed as a single gift or a continuing or multi‐year commitment? Are you asking the donor to contribute anything in addition to money?
What incentive (explicit or implicit) are you offering? What kind of public acknowledgement and recognition? What kind of participation in the activities of the organisation?
And for Trustees:How can your own commitment strengthen the solicitation? How can you effectively use your own financial contribution, as well as your commitment of time and energy, to motivate the donor? As an example? As a peer? As a moral incentive?
What can staff and fellow Trustees do to make the solicitation comfortable and successful?
Make the Ask: Guidelines
• Don’t be apologetic or tentative. You are not asking for a ‘handout’: you are offering the donor an opportunity to invest in work that will create positive change in a field that he/she cares about. Keep the conversation focused on the work: help the donor understand that money translates into work.
• Anticipate success. If you have done a good job of cultivation, the donor will expect to be asked. Indeed, it is not likely that the donor would have agreed to this meeting if he/she had already decided to refuse.
• Don’t take too long to get to the ask, and don’t tiptoe around the subject of money. Present your case with assurance and confidence.
• Once you place your request on the table, do not break the ensuing silence. Let the donor be next to speak, even if there is an uncomfortable pause.
• Any response short of a cut‐and‐dried, outright refusal should be regarded as the beginning of a negotiation. Start negotiating right away.
If the Donor’s First Response Is Discouraging
• Can you sense the reason? Does it have to do with the amount of the request? the purpose of the gift? Don’t get defensive or start back‐tracking. Try to get the donor talking, and see if you can pick up clues.
• If you are afraid you’ve asked for too much, don’t volunteer to lower your request—let the donor be the one to say what he or she considers feasible.
• Do you sense that the donor has unanswered questions about the organisation or the project? Try to elicit those questions at this meeting, and make a commitment to address them quickly and completely.
• Do you sense that the donor needs additional incentives to make the investment? This might be important, for example, to a corporate donor.
• If the donor wants time to think, don’t end the meeting without a clear agreement about how and when the next contact will take place.
After the Ask?
• follow up immediately to confirm, thank and look forward to the next step
• stewardship plan and assignment
• go back to the organisation/donor circle to re‐evaluate future mutual commitments
Monitoring and evaluation
Leaning from each partnership, successes and challenges helps strengthen and build future projects and potentially develop long term partnerships.
Case Study
The organisation. A long‐established family arts centre in a small city, known for its art and theatre programmes for children with learning disabilities. It now wants to expand to serve learning‐disabled teens and young adults, both on‐site and in schools and community venues. It is working to acquire/develop new major donors—individuals, corporations, charitable trusts—to support the higher level of funding required by these new activities.The prospective major gift donor. Mr Aloysius Tubby is a successful management consultant; he and his wife Augusta Tubby, a well‐known solicitor specialising in family law, live and work in this city. Mr and Mrs Tubby have been contributing to the centre at a modest level for the last five years, and they contribute also to other local charities working in the fields of homelessness and housing, mental health, environmental conservation and the arts. They always make their gifts as a couple, although it is known that Mrs Tubby has a strong interest in issues of homelessness and mental health, whereas Mr Tubby is especially keen on the performing arts. Mrs Tubby had a cousin with severe learning disabilities, and from this family experience gained some understanding of the difficulties such people face when they try to function in the mainstream world. Mr and Mrs Tubby know the centre’s Chair and a few of its Trustees and other donors as casual social or professional acquaintances, but not well. The centre has been trying to cultivate them more intensively over the past year, and they have attended several donor events at which plans for expanding the centre’s activities were introduced briefly; they appeared to be engaged and enthusiastic. The centre’s research suggests that Mr and Mrs Tubby might be able to contribute £10,000 per year or more, based on what can be discovered about their income and assets as well as the history of their known charitable giving over the years. However, as neither Mr nor Mrs Tubby is a publicity‐seeker, it is possible that their capacity to contribute is higher.
Practice Case Study
The Southwest Energy Council is an organisation devoted to the promotion of green energy policy, seeking to influence consumer choices, business practices and government policy. It has developed model demonstration projects with local partners all over the Southwest of England as well as broader public education programmes.Now the Southwest Energy Council wants to expand its public outreach by launching its first major media campaign, for which it will need at least £75,000. It already has a grant of £20,000 from a trust, and seeks a corporate sponsorship of £30,000 for media costs.WoW Technology Corporation, based in Bristol with additional offices in Exeter and Plymouth, has been one of the Council’s corporate donors at a modest level for three years. WoW designs software for both government and businesses, and is one of the fastest‐growing technology companies in the Southwest. In the past WoW has been a sponsor for public outreach and public education programmes at several charities, but not for potentially controversial issues in which business interests or policy might be involved.Based on some gently encouraging conversations over the last year between one of the Council’s Trustees and WoW’s CEO Lucy Brown, whom he knows both socially and professionally, the Council is preparing a cultivation plan to approach Ms Brown and to ask her for a sponsorship grant of £30,000. Although MsBrown is obviously aware of the company’s support for the Southwest Energy Council, it is not clear just how much she really knows about the scope of the organisation’s work. Nor is it absolutely certain that a request for £30,000 is feasible.