How to fundraise without ‘the ask’
Howard Lake | 28 July 2011 | Blogs
What do you think of when you hear the phrase “charity fundraising”?
I asked my friends this question and they think of TV adverts asking for £2 a month direct debits; chuggers on the streets to be avoided at all costs; marathons, fun runs and sponsored events on Just Giving; and the good old charity tin, shaken tirelessly by devoted volunteers.
An interesting, yet not surprising view of charity fundraising.
The common denominator amongst these fundraising strategies is ‘the ask’.
TV advertising using shocking images, appealing to our empathic glands with a direct ‘ask’ at the end; strangers approaching us on the street asking us for our bank details for monthly direct debits; and even our own friends asking us to donate to the charity of their choice for running a marathon.
And what do we get back in return? A feel good factor, ending the day feeling better in the knowledge that we have done a good deed for the day.
Is it actually possible to fundraise without ‘the ask’?
I wonder what percentage of donors wake up one morning and think to themselves, “today’s the day I am going to do an online bank transfer or send that cheque”? At least, what percentage without any form of prompting?
I asked this question to members of the UK Fundraising LinkedIn Group and it sparked off a little debate.
Kate Clift, director at Six Sisters Ltd suggests that engaging volunteers is a great way to stimulate giving without a direct ask; and if you manage a relationship with a high net worth donor well enough then they should ‘offer’ their support rather than wait to be ‘asked’. It is then a skilled fundraiser who can maximise the value of the gift.
Tommy Tonkins, Communications Officer at ShelterBox agrees that regular engagement and building trust is paramount. He says, at ShelterBox they try to strengthen the link between their donors and the recipients of their aid by using social media. They inform their supporters how they are helping every step of the way.
Tonkins goes on to say, “For us, this approach has worked extremely well because our donors feel incredibly involved with our work and for that reason they naturally want to give; we don’t have to ask them to.”
You can read more from Tommy Tonkins on ‘How to raise funds without directly asking or appealing for them’ here http://bit.ly/h2notAsk
On the other hand, what if you do ask your supporters after building rapport and trust? Would the donations you receive greatly increase?
John Baguley, owner of International Fundraising Consultancy, certainly thinks so. Baguley suggests the donations charities will receive, will be far less than if they had asked properly and may also leave donors puzzled, asking “Why on earth didn’t they ask me? Maybe they don’t need my money after all.”
Baguley goes on to say, “asking and developing great relationships are not mutually exclusive, but strengthen each other in the interactions between a charity and its supporters. People are often afraid of asking because they fear it will damage a relationship, but nothing could be further from the truth – donors need to feel comfortable with their gift, so they want to know how much you need and when you need it. It is the fundraisers job to enlighten them.”
Baguley thinks we should, “learn to love asking – it is the basis of our great profession and a huge public service.”
And Jay Frost, President & CEO at FundraisingInfo.com with 25 years fundraising experience agrees with Baguley. In Mr Frost’s own words, “Fundraising without ‘the ask’? That’s like having a wedding and not issuing invitations! Sure, people might show up. They might even bring a gift. But not asking them to attend suggests that they are not equals in the event.”
Frost suggests building rapport and trust using social media channels is a must these days, but to not directly ask for donations is a mistake.
Frost advises that it is the responsibility of charity fundraisers to “directly invite new constituents – people who we hope may become the future of our organizations and the greatest champions of our causes – to invest in the missions so important to us that we devote our lives to them.”
It’s clear that we can fundraise without ‘the ask’, but how will it affect the bottom line of your fundraising revenue? In the short term, ‘the ask’ seems like the most successful ROI strategy, but what about the long term?
This is where I believe Tommy Tonkins is spot on. Educate, build a relationship, nurture that relationship, engage and re-engage.
With the popularity of Facebook and Just Giving, I am asked all the time to sponsor people for their specific event, be it a 10k run or a tea party. I had to stop as it was genuinely costing me a small fortune.
However, if I get a message with some humour, some information on how the money is helping, rather than just which charity the money is being donated too, I may re-open my purse strings.
People do not like being sold to… people buy when they are ready to buy (in this case, buy = give), so I personally like Tommy Tonkins strategy of developing a long term relationship which eventually equates to long term, bottom line, fundraising.
And John Baguley agrees to a certain extent. He says, “Fundraising is not about being a pushy salesperson, which we all know doesn’t work very well; but neither is it about being in denial about our professional function which I hope we all carry out with good humour and an engaging personality.”
Jay Frosts still has issue with not asking. He believes it sends the wrong message to supporters. It is of Frosts opinion that not inviting people to give says “I don’t care enough about you to take the time to reach out to you directly.” He believes, “personally inviting major donors to give is critical not only because the resulting gifts will be larger but also because asking has a sustentative effect on those relationships. Financially successful people expect to be asked and are surprised and sometimes put off when they are not.”
To ask or not to ask, that is the question. Please comment below, we would like to hear your thoughts.
Craig Hartzel is CEO of Charity Greetings. Charity Greetings provides white labelled charity cards shop to charities. To open a free card shop visit www.joincharitygreetings.com
You can support charity by sending a greeting card, including birthday cards, valentines cards and charity christmas cards by going to www.charitygreetings.com.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.