Loading summary
Transcript38 lines
- [00:00]
Rhea Wong
Hey, you, It's Rhea Wong. If you're listening to Nonprofit Load On, I'm pretty sure that you'd love my weekly newsletter. Every Tuesday morning, you get updates on the newest podcast episodes. And then interspersed, we have fun special invitations for newsletter subscribers only and fundraising inspo, because I know what it feels like to be in the trenches alone. On top of that, you get cute dog photos. Best of all, it is free. So what are you waiting for? Head over to riawong.com now to sign up. Welcome to Nonprofit Lowdown. I'm your host, Rhea Wong. Hey, nonprofit Lowdown listeners. Rhea coming to you for our very last episode of 2024. It has been a wild year, and I hope that wherever you are, you're getting some downtime, some time to rest, rejuvenate, reconnect, because we're going to be right back at it in 2025. For this last episode of 2024, I have put together some highlights from my favorite episodes of 2024 so that we can recap and relive the magic. I also wanted to take this moment to thank you so much for being a loyal listener to Nonprofit Lowdown. We are in our sixth year, if you can believe that. I had no idea that we'd still be going when I started this little podcast back in October. So if this has been helpful to you, if there are any episodes that you have particularly enjoyed, do me a favor. Go leave a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to this podcast and share it with a friend. In the meantime, wherever you are, whoever you are, I hope you have a wonderful holiday season and a happy new Year. See you in 2025.
- [01:46]
Emeril
I think often we tend to think of fundraising, it's this, like, dirty little secret over here on the side that we don't really want to talk about. And the truth is, fundraising makes missions possible. Gandhi had to fundraise. Mother Teresa had to fundraise. MLK had to fundraise. Right? Fundraising is not dirty. Fundraising is a fundamental fact of how change happens in the world. I think once you come to it from a place of possibility and fun and generosity and flow, it becomes a different kind of an activity. And I think people dread it so much because we bring so much of our own baggage about money to the table.
- [02:21]
Hugh
We do, and we're not even aware of how that's hurting us. You spoke about money mindset. Let's dig a little deeper into that. What does it mean to you? And we. We have. And I had shared with you that I learned from one of my guests years ago, that this is. We operate a business and it's a non. We don't identify, but we're not non profit. We are instead of a for profit business, we are for purpose business. So this purposeful work. So we penalize ourselves. But talk about the mindset and how that money mindset paralyzes us or compromises our fundraising.
- [02:56]
Emeril
Yeah. So, Hugh, you and I were speaking ahead of the podcast. I always think of managing your mindset the way that athletes prepare for games. And look, I'm not an athletic person. I do enjoy an NBA game, right. But when you really think about at the pro level, let's say with basketball, what's the difference between a LeBron James versus a rookie coming out who maybe, you know, a good, solid, but not LeBron James kind of player? It's the preparation and it's the mindset after a certain threshold of skill level. Conversely, I think as fundraisers, if we want to approach this act of fundraising as a sport, what's going to differentiate the good from the great? Are the ones who learn how to manage their money mindset, manage their internal state compared to the ones who get very upset and very riled up about money either which way. And I remember this very distinctly when I was an ed, I had gotten a letter in the mail and it was a grant that I had expected that we were going to get and we didn't get it. And I was kind of pouty and stomping around, around, and I went and my CFO at the time looked at me. He's a wise man. Leonard Perlman, if you're listening to this, looked at me and said, ria, why are you letting money affect your mood? And I was like, yeah, you're right, it, it's just money, right? And I think when we right size what money is a resource like anybody, like anything else. But the interesting thing about money is it's a renewable resource. It's not like air, it's not like time, it's not water resistance. Non renewable resource. Money is infinite. Like we're literally printing more of it. So why do we get so bent out of shape about it? And so I think part of what we. And we'll probably get to this, but we have so much. We can say baggage, we can say trauma about money. A lot of it has to do with what we have received as messages in our upbringing. Some of it is ancestral trauma. So epigenetics, like we might have inherited trauma in our DNA. Some of it is systemic. And social right racism and white supremacy and various policies that have kept money out of the hands of folks of color. None of it comes from nowhere. I think both. And yes, all of these things can be true, and we can choose to be discerning about what we want to believe and act on moving forward in our lives. So let's give the folks a little bit of context here. So you and I met via one of your funders about a year and a half ago in Denver, Colorado. And at the time, I remember you and I had a conversation. You were like, ria, I got a raise. I can't remember what you were trying to raise. And I said, that's not a problem. And your head just about exploded.
- [05:22]
Kel
It really did. So, yes, we met in Denver, Colorado, part of the cohort with New Profit. One of our funders, as you shared, you were a guest speaker. And after a long day of guest speakers, you were like the shining light you came in. It was your energy. Guarantee. It was your energy. It was the information that you were sharing, because it was at a pivotal part of. Of my career where we needed to raise $10 million for our capital campaign. Our goal was to provide a forever home for our 1600 kids. And so just hearing your story and how you just made fundraising seem so fun and easy, it just. It captivated me. And from then on, once you gave, I think I won the book. I think I was so in tune with your presentation that I answered a question correctly, and I received one of your books, which was the tool of my dreams. And I freaking love the title because I say that. That phrase all the time. Get that money, honey. I freaking loved it. So that was really the guy that helped me really put the information into a transactional plan that I still use today. Yeah.
- [06:24]
Emeril
Oh, wow. So kind of you to say, but when I met you, I was like, this woman is a powerhouse. There's just no way that she is getting held back. Your energy, your vision, your passion for the work, all the things. But tell me a little bit about what happened recently, because when we saw each other, I guess it was in Oakland recently, you told me a story. I just blew my mind open.
- [06:46]
Kel
So, yeah, as I shared Moves and Grooves just celebrated its 20th anniversary, and we were embarking on this capital campaign to raise $10 million for a new entrepreneur. And especially getting into the major donor field, I had a tough time telling my story. There's so much that has gone on in 20 years. I didn't know where to start, where to end. I didn't know what really resonated. And so after reading your book, you gave me a plan. You told me to share the story itself, the story of us and the story of now. And that gave me a framework to tell my story in a strategic and compelling way. And that ultimately is what we got our new one million dollar donation from. So it was definitely worthwhile. It was actually 2.5 million, if I'm being exact, that we received, which is the largest donation we've ever received in the two decades we've been in existence. So I definitely credit you and your framework to help me share my story in an authentic way.
- [07:39]
Emeril
And I'm going to give credit where credit to say that is Dr. Marshall Gantz. But I'm happy that that framework helped you. And I think we did some practicing as well. But. Okay, you know, I'm going to ask the details. Tell me how it went, because I know there are people out here being like, all right, Emerald, $2.5 million. I'm not going to be able to do that. So. Because at the time, your budget wasn't, if I'm recalling correctly, like, you were below a million at the time. Was that right?
- [08:03]
Kel
That is very true. We've been an organization that's been growing, but growing in small increments. Want to say two years ago, we were at $500,000 operating budget, and then last year, I think we were at maybe 800,000. So we were growing, but never met that $1 million mark. And for any entrepreneur, that million dollar is where you are in there. And that's how we felt in the nonprofit world. But it definitely was not easy. I do not want to lie. I definitely heard a lot more no's than I heard yeses. And to be truly honest, it was me stepping out of my comfort zone. That was a secret. It was me going out building those relationships because I want to. I want to say, when I first started Moves and Grooves my freshman year, my mentor said something really poignant. After I try to write 50 grants by myself, and I didn't get any of them, he said, emeril, people don't fund programs. People fund people. You got to get out there, build those connections, let them see your passion, let them understand who you are and the why behind your work. And that's what secures those donations. And to be honest, that's what it was. Those relationships, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable.
- [09:10]
Emeril
I love that so much. And I literally remember it was like you came up to me and you kind of whispered, you're like, I have to raise $10 million. You're like. And I was like, yeah, you can do it. What's the problem?
- [09:21]
Kel
You were such a calming spirit. You made it seem easy, you made it seem fun. And you gave me a blueprint on how to do it. And that's all I needed. Just show me how. I'm such a human sponge. I know that I can, but I don't know what to do. My number one strength is activation. I'm a doer. And so I think sometimes if you have a great idea, you just need someone to help give you a plan and a little motivation to say, hey, I'm cheering for you, I'm rooting for you. And that's what you did for me.
- [09:51]
Emeril
Oh, thank you for saying that. Because I really see my role in this world as being the Yoda. My job is amazing. I get to meet all of these folks like yourself, who are out here changing the world. And if I can just be a little part of that journey, like, here's the direction we're going to go. Go be great. I just think it's such an honor and privilege in my life to be able to do that for folks. If I'm sitting here listening to you and thinking that maybe a fractional fundraiser might be a good option for me, what are the considerations? Or maybe I should say readiness. Because I'm just also thinking about small organizations who are like, hey, we don't even have a database. Like we. Or we haven't kept track of our records well. Or our board doesn't fundraise, or we have no track record of individual donations. Like, who would be a good candidate for a fractional fundraiser? Because I'm also thinking about the fact that if you're working with a very experienced, high level person, they're probably not going to be content like data entering and mail merging for you.
- [10:49]
Jay
Right. Some of them do. I call it from strategy to stepping envelopes because that's sometimes what happens. And that's okay. That's part of. That's part of the package. I would say if you're not raising anything, it's a big investment. The way I talk. Because everyone also wants to know about ro, right? That's everyone's question when it comes to fundraising. When you look at fundraising growth, it is typically looking at percentage growth year over year. How much more did we raise this year than last year? Healthy organization. The numbers change. Right now they're not actually raising that much more every year. Right. Maybe I'd say, like, good is 10% more exceptional is probably 20% more. Unless you're seriously investing in fundraising growth, like adding new staff or new programs and stuff like small organizations, it's usually less. Usually they, they're pretty flat year over year. If you want someone to come in, you might like success, super successful organizations. You're getting, you know, maybe 20, 20% growth. 20% on 10,000 is very different than 20% on a hundred thousand, which is very different than 20% on A million. And so your starting point makes a difference in your results. You're not going to go from not raising any money or raising like $3,000 to overnight raising $300,000. That's not going to happen. It has happened once or twice, but mostly through grants and it's just, and it's not sustainable. So if you're not raising anything, you have to have a willingness to invest. Most of the fractional fundraisers that I train and work with, they charge between 4 and $5,000 a month on 12 month contracts. So that's 48,000 ish a year. Okay. You have to be willing to look at the first year as an investment. If you're raising 2, $3,000, it's a big stretch to get to 50, 60,000. Aside from that, like the other sort of readiness things, databases are nice to have, but if you don't have one, expect that part of the fundraising plan that this person will be creating and implementing will be around the back office. It will be setting up the database, migrating some of the data. If it's a lot of data and it's really messy or unclean data, then they might suggest you hire a data expert. But if it's simple and it's easy for them to set up, it's reasonably within work or within scope. That's one area. But really I think it's this idea of you have some track record, you have some information and you need to mature your program.
- [13:44]
Emeril
I love for you to chat a little bit about the relationship between the fractional fundraiser and the executive director and the board, because as we know, it can be, when it works it's great, and when it doesn't, it can be terrible. And I think this is more broadly a question about the relationship between DODs and EDs versus not fractional fundraisers per se. But what are your thoughts?
- [14:08]
Jay
Yeah, so executive directors will very easily get pulled into the same relationship they have with in house staff. Because fractional fundraisers do a lot of the data. They day to day work, the dynamic can be similar. And I spent quite a bit of time coaching my network on this dynamic. Because this is the thing, and this is why I mentioned before about trust. For some reason, executive directors have a really hard time letting go and trusting people. And it's really scary when you're investing that much money in a fundraiser to wait 12 months to trust the process. And then what happens is because a fractional fundraiser is doing a lot of the implementation, they the executive director might start delegating other stuff. Right. Or, oh, can you do this too? Or all that kind of stuff. And so I constantly, not constantly, but often am coaching the fractional fundraisers in my network to come. Like, to really pull out of that implementation and reinforce the strategy or the reasons behind the implementation so it doesn't feel like you're just another set of hands. Because that is what happens when we work in nonprofits. If you're fundraising or anything else. Right. Other duties is assigned. We laugh at that all the time. It's not funny. So we need to understand that we specific. And I have had, when I was doing this work as well, which I did before I trained this network, I said to clients, I know you don't want to do that, but you hired me because I'm going to push back when I think you're making the wrong decision. And that's why you hired us and not someone in house. So we're going to do it. And it's really hard. But that dynamic is so critical to making a fractional fundraiser work in an organization and helping them be successful.
- [16:17]
Emeril
You specialize in doing phone asks, like cold calling phone asks. I would probably rather stick hot needles in my eye than do it. And I am not afraid of fundraising. So what is it about you? What's your superpower that allows you to not only master this skill, but teach other people how to do it?
- [16:35]
G
I think it's that I try to really lead with vulnerability and everything I do. And, like, I want to be really clear. I think that comes with my privilege. I am like a cishet white woman who grew up very middle class, so that's part of it, I'm sure. But I really lead from a place of vulnerability and also curiosity of everyone that I'm talking to. And so it really is about, like, how can I get to know this person in front of me? Go deep with this person, whomever they are, in whatever circumstance. Even if I'm at Trader Joe's and I'm. And whomever is checking me out at Trader Joe's, I'm excited to get to know that person for that 45 seconds. So it's really about curiosity and vulnerability.
- [17:10]
Emeril
I love that because as fundraisers I always say, hey, are you that person who people like, gravitate to, who people ask for directions that you find out their Life story in 30 seconds and you're like, girl, listen, here's what I think you need to do with your life. Like, I am that person. I'm like, tell me all the things. Right? Okay, I want to get deep into this. How did you hit upon the 5 minute fundraising ask? Because it's so hard, especially in this day and age where people aren't answering their phones. Like if I get a random cold call, like, I'm like, click. And we have all these robo blockers now. So yeah, I don't know, what's the question? The question is like, how does one even start to begin with this?
- [17:50]
G
I will say I had all those same questions that you have. And when I started doing this now almost 20 years ago, I did not think that we would all still be using cel phones in 2024. But guess what? We are as of now, until we're all holograms. Like we ri and I just saw this kind of crazy hologram when we were in the convention room. Anyway, it's amazing. We all have these cell phones. We're going to keep them. And I don't know about you all, but I like to use the phone. So I'm a focus group of one as far as that's concerned. But everyone has to talk to a doctor or a lawyer or wants to get on the phone with someone in your family or you want to be walking your dog and being on the phone so it's not going away. And so what I find is that it's not. Yes, I guess they're technically cold calls, but I wouldn't recommend just like up the phone book or being like, oh, who are the people who have the capacity in my area, blah, blah, blah. The way these phone calls work really well. And that's why I focus specifically on mid level donors. So people who are already connected to your organization. So community members who've donated in the past or even recently, that's fine. Or if you've got like a performance based organization or just even any kind of experiential component or really grassroots component, work really well because you've got got some connective tissue that you can just build upon immediately.
- [19:01]
Emeril
Okay, so I'm just gonna play devil's advocate because I do get cold calls and literally when I pick it up first of all, if I don't recognize the number, I don't pick it up. But say someone slips through the crotch and I pick it up because the number looks like maybe a number that's close ish to what I would pick up. When I hear, hey, how are you doing today? I'm like, oh, no. Like, click, we're done. I was like, take me off the list. So very tactically, how do you avoid getting. And look, you're going to get hung up on, but how do you increase the likelihood that you won't get hung up on?
- [19:33]
G
It's a great question. I hear it all the time. So the way I train is basically I think about a phone call, a five minute fundraising ask as a tent. And not the kind that you sleep in, but like the kind that you have for a reunion or for graduation or in my case, when I got married on a small island off the coast of Portland, Maine. And so what holds up a tent but tent poles. So I have four tent poles that are like truly the foundation of these calls. And the first. First is how to handle the first 15 seconds. Because, yes, exactly to what you said. There are robocalls, there are telemarketers, there are scammers. So the idea being to really firmly craft that first 15 seconds and really front end what you're saying. So I would call you and say, hi, Aria, my name's Kel. I'm calling you from Organization X. Thank you so much for that gift you made back in December. We really appreciate that we actually surpass our goal. So thank you for that. And just wanted to check in, see if you knew about the event that we're doing next week. We actually still have some space. Do you know about that event happening? We'd love to have you.
- [20:31]
Emeril
Oh, that's so good.
- [20:32]
G
So. So ending that first 15 seconds, it's. There's a lot specifically going on there. It's who you are as the person calling from your org, what you do at the org, also reminding them of your organization. They may not remember that $500 donation. They might not even remember. So to remind them of that and then have some kind of really curious question that you're ending that last 15 seconds. And the important thing is to remember that being on the phone is very different in person. So, like, you can really disarm somebody with a lot of information upfront and they might not get it all at first, but they're like, oh, I'm talking to a human being. Talking to a human being who works with an organ I'm already associated with and a human being who seems to have a sense of what my connection is.
- [21:11]
Emeril
So how do you help people get over their fear of rejection? Because I imagine that there's a very high rate of, like, hangups or, okay, I don't want to talk to you or think you for calling. Click. And I think that fear of rejection really holds a lot of us back in fundraising, in life, perhaps. And maybe it helps that you have actors who maybe are used to the additions, rejections. But, like, how do you help people get over that psychological hurdle of I hate being rejected.
- [21:34]
G
Yeah. So many ways work on getting over that idea of rejection. One thing I say is I think therapy is important for all of us. So I am, like, always working on my own personal reactions and why and curiosity about working through my own mindsets, both like money and rejection. But I would say, yes, working with artists helps a heck of a lot with that. But I also say, remember that it's not about you. Like, it's not personal. And that is hard because I encourage people to be as personal as possible on the call. But I also say, don't hold on too tightly to what happens in the moment. Be personal and know that your job is ultimately to build a stronger relationship with this community member, not what happens on the call. What I have found in my almost 20 years of doing this, Rhea, is that the money always follows. If we're really focused on building relationships, like, the money will follow. So I'm never holding on too tightly to the result of what happens in that moment. And there's lots of different tactics of, like, how to keep that person on the phone and how to figure out if there's a way to do it today. But it's not about us. And also, they don't owe us anything. We're calling them. They're not expecting to hear from us. Like, they don't owe us anything ever. And so everything is a gift. Picking up the call is the gift. Staying on the call is the gift. There's actually a donation in the moment, obviously also a gift. But the whole idea is about relationship building.
- [22:58]
Emeril
We can't assume that one strategy will apply to all. So when we are thinking about moves, I'm going to stop saying moves management, because I hate it when we're thinking about our donor's journey on the front end. It is a bespoke, collaborative effort. So I say to you, Jay, here's what I'd like to do. I'd like us to go on this donor journey Together, I'm going to put a plan in front of you, and this plan could look. And by the way, I'm also going to ask you what's high value for you, Jay, because just because I think you'll love a site visit doesn't mean you're going to love a site visit. Right? Just because I think that you might like our newsletters doesn't mean that you're going to like my newsletters. Right? So I get to ask you, Jay, what are the high value things for you? Do you want our newsletter? Do you want to go to site visits? Do you want to have coffee with our board members? Do you want to meet our recipient? I don't know what you'll like. Then we calendar it out, and I put a proposal in front of you and say, okay, Jay, here's what our plan looks like. And at the end of this plan, I'm going to put a proposal in front of you for a donation. But that won't happen until we go through this plan and you tell me that you're ready to do it. And by the way, you can opt out of this plan at any point. How does that sound to you? As a donor, you are in control. And I'm sure it feels great to be like, oh, I get to decide what journey I want to be on. I get to decide what activities I want to be in. I'm going to know ahead of time. Hey, actually, September's not good for me, so could we move this activity to this other date? Fantastic. And then when it comes time for solicitation, I say to you, Jay, we've gotten an opportunity to get to know each other. You understand what we're doing? You. You trust me? You trust our work. Is now the time for us to talk about a donation? I also really believe in you. Ask permission. Ask. Because it goes back to this idea of trust. If I truly am investing in this relationship of trust, I'm not trying to surprise you. I'm letting you be in control of each step of the way. But I'm also going to be super transparent about where we're going. Like, I'm not necessarily hanging out with you because I like you and we're buddies. My job is to be a fundraiser. And my job, by the way, is also to help you as a donor to achieve the impact that you want to achieve. So how do I position myself as a guide to your dreams and desires? As a donor versus an extractor of resources?
- [25:22]
G
I know that one of the complexities of all this is that people feel like they don't have enough time. It's not just a matter of lack of resources, it's really lack of time. So let's imagine that they're doing this things they need to do. And I would love to have people answer your question, too, to find that out. What are they doing? But then where are they doing it is one of those other complexities, since there are so many different places where we can communicate outwardly. Do you have. I know it's a very vague question, but I'm wondering if you have advice on how people can streamline some of their communications so that they are able to talk to a smaller number of people who can be more highly engaged in this. We can really listen to them rather than trying to constantly bombard the world.
- [26:06]
Emeril
Yeah.
- [26:07]
G
Phones with messages. How do we refine?
- [26:10]
Emeril
Yeah. So a couple of different things I would say is, this is such an interesting question, Jay, because everyone I talk to is always, I don't have enough prospects. And then they're like, but I also have an email list that I never communicate with. I'm like, but those are your prospects. So, I mean, when I hear I don't have enough time, what I translate that to is I'm not making it a priority. So you have to carve out time to do this. And I think often with fundraising, it's important but not urgent often. And so it falls to the bottom of the to do list. So I would say, number one, calendarize it. Make sure you make the time to do it. The second thing is, I want you to think about the modes of communications. Email is obviously one. Dms are another. So if I look at my email inbox, I've got, call it 20 unread messages. But if I look at my DMs, I got, I have zero unread messages. Right. So this is a way to get to me. And again, you don't want to be like ActBlue. You don't want to bombard people. But how are you reaching people where they are in order to invite them into a conversation when they are ready and a conversation that is valuable for them, not for you. If I have to think about it and look, we're all, like, guilty of having to feed the content beast. Think about a couple of pillar platforms and pick one or two social media platforms that you're posting on regularly. Like, consistency is better than a lot of platforms. If you can pick one platform, say, LinkedIn happens to be my platform. I would rather that you choose one platform and host Four times a week versus trying to post once a week on four different platforms, right? It's about depth, not breath. Now, when you think about your different social media platforms and out there and whatever in the world you have to think about, all roads lead to your email list. Because your email list, statistically, is where you're going to raise the money. It's also where you're going to communicate with people. That's also where you're going to invite them on to surveys. Like, the thing about email is it's very intimate. Like, Gap.com sends me like a bajillion emails a day and why don't I unsubscribe? Because 1 out of 10 of those is probably a good coupon, right? So when we think about sending out communications, we have to send out rocks and pebbles. It can't just be like, we're so great, we're so great. You have to give me something that gives me a reason to stay on your newsletter. Now, when we think about who to send surveys to, I would start with the people who open your emails. Like, that's an obvious one. People who click through your emails. That's an obvious one, right? Then go from there. And so I think the key here is not to get overwhelmed by the sheer number of things that you have to do or the sheer number of people that you have to communicate with. It's about being really surgically precise about who you're communicating with and why.
- [28:58]
G
So we've touched on AI only glancingly. AI is something everybody's talking about in every way without ever defining what they really are using or how they're using it. But in terms of this subject, how would you, if at all, apply some of the tools and services that are available to this purpose of really engaging with people where they are and then building relationships that are real, not just scheduled out against the thousands of people.
- [29:23]
Emeril
But, yeah, so could you ask. I actually have a ChatGPT course. But essentially, first of all, AI is changing every single day. So I did this course a couple months ago and it's already outdated because the landscape is changing. But I'm doing a really fun course in July with Allison Fine and Beth Cantor about how to use AI for what we're calling relational fundraising. But there are a number of things that you can think about for using AI. For example, number one, you can uncover the donor perspective. So if you are having conversations with our donors, you can use I use Fathom, you can transcribe it. You can then use AI to pull out the Sentiments the questions that they have to anticipate ahead of time. How might I tweak my messages in order to address my audience? You can use AI to build donor avatars. You can use AI to develop a donor journey. You can use AI to analyze your donor data set. So if I look at my donors, I'm like okay, what are some of the trends? Who's giving at a regular basis? Who are my top givers? How often do they give? You can use AI to personalize at scale. I'm not quite as familiar with the algorithms around like social media usage, but I'm sure you can also use generative AI and predictive analytics to determine like this is a person who might give at a certain time. Simple things are also automations. For example, you can set up an automation that when someone donates instead of in addition to the ubiquitous email acknowledgement letter that we all get, you can set it up to. One of my favorite automations is there's an automation to handwritten H A N D W R I R Y T E N. I'm not receiving any kickback from them, but it's you can hand write a card to get sent to your donor. I think that there is a lot in the world of potential automations and looking at large data sets to predict donor behavior. If there's one takeaway here, it's talk to your donors. And when I say talk to your donors, actually ask questions and ask follow up questions and go in with a sense of curiosity. Because so often when we're talking quote unquote to donors, we're just level one listening and we're listening with an agenda. So what I wanted to challenge is all of your people with is if a campaign isn't going well, ask your donors. If you're not getting response rates, ask your donors. If you're wondering why people aren't giving the way they usually give it end of year, ask your donors. There's nothing, there's no quandary that can't be made better by asking the people who are your audience. And when I say that, I want you to challenge you to go in with this in mind. 75% them talking, 25% you talking if less. Because the point is you are having a conversation with them to learn what they know, not what you know. You already know what you know. I always think about Nelson Mandela who would have his meetings and he would always speak last because he always wanted to know what everybody else knew before he did. And I think we need to adopt the same kind of curiosity and humility to do that.
- [32:57]
Rhea Wong
Hey fundraisers. Looking to nail those big fundraising asks? Check out my big ask gift program.
- [33:04]
Emeril
At riawong.com ask bag.
- [33:07]
Rhea Wong
Say goodbye to uncertainty and hello to.
- [33:09]
Emeril
Confidence with my program.
- [33:11]
Rhea Wong
Get expert strategies and personalized support to secure those game changing donations. Don't let fear hold you back. Join me and take your fundraising to new heights. We're enrolling now@riawong.com bag that's rhea wong.com.
- [33:28]
Emeril
Bag so if you like big asks and you cannot lie, I'll see you in the program.