It used to be the natural thing for us to question everything – we asked why? all the time. Over time we’ve stopped doing that so much – we know more, we don’t ask as much. Asking “yeah, but why?” about your fundraising proposition is a good test of whether you’ve arrived at the nub of the issue yet… and if you can’t answer the whys that you come up with you won’t be answering the whys of your audience
Regardless of your fundraising specialty, here are some tips from Money Tree Fundraising to help build, or rebuild, your fundraising resilience.
We do not work on a commission basis. Nor will we work on a no-win-no-fee basis. There are lots of reasons for that – it is frowned upon by our sector body, it offers temptation for poor practice, it exploits the weak, it misunderstands the fundamental team effort that is fundraising.
Say thank you. Regardless of what the donor says. And listen hard for what the donor means when they say “no need to thank me” in case they mean “don’t make a fuss” or “don’t tell people” but would love for you to say thank you!
It is less risky to ask for a gift when you know the person is likely to say yes. Learning how to read the signs of another person’s likelihood to give is sometimes tricky and sometimes really obvious. But fundamentally it is the asking that is the secret: if you don’t ask you definitely won’t get!