3 Ways to Overcome Fundraising Anxiety

Time for a little exercise. Don’t worry – this one’s easy.

You’re sitting across from someone at lunch. The person has an interest in your cause and you’re about to ask that person to make a $500 donation.

Write down one word to describe exactly how you feel.

I bet I can guess what you wrote…

ASKING FOR DONATIONS MAKES ME FEEL…

I spend a lot of time with boards talking about how to be great ambassadors for the organization they care deeply about. And I know how deeply they care. After all, these women and men have said: “Sign me up! It would be an honor to be on this board.”

They care a lot.

My role is to help them think about what being a great board ambassador looks like. Free association. I keep hoping that one day someone will just chirp “FUNDRAISER.”

Hasn’t happened yet. I continue to hope.

So I do this same exercise with them. I ask them to write down the one word that describes how they feel when asking for donations. And I tell them I am going to shuffle the cards so they don’t have to read their own. Helps on the candor front.

The pens hit the index cards, we shuffle and re-circulate. One by one, a board member is asked to read the word or phrase on her/his card aloud.

It’s the same five words I hear almost every time. I bet you wrote one of these five. Probably the first one.

“Anxious”

“Nervous”

“Uninformed”

“Embarrassed”

“Awkward”

Actually, I also hear the word “excited!” That’s one I LOVE to hear. But the problem is that I usually hear it because I planted a card myself.

Sometimes I call that out and ask the person who wrote it to raise their hand. No one does. Then I make a joke (and a point) “Oh, I’m sorry – somehow MY card got in the pile!”

Sometimes if we are very lucky we hear the word “opportunity.”

And sometimes if someone is being really honest, we hear the word “terrifying.”

ASKING FOR DONATIONS CAN BE TERRIFYING

Now let’s remember. These are grownups. And if they have been recruited to a board, they are probably pretty high-powered, successful, connected. Maybe they are leaders in your community.

Terrifying.

I point out the word kindly and let it sit there in the room. I suggest that it be reserved for really big things. And then I say,

Here’s what terrifying looks like to me.

The people in the room usually laugh. They get it.

But it’s one thing to recognize that the level of anxiety is higher than it probably needs to be. It’s quite another thing to overcome the fear when asking for donations.

THE 4 SKILLS OF A CALM FUNDRAISER

When I speak publicly, I say that I was a “fundraising virgin.” I promise I don’t have a PowerPoint slide for that.

I had to quickly learn to develop the four skills needed by anybody asking for donations. Some people have these naturally. But here’s the thing. All four of these skills can be developed with practice.

1. The ability to hear the word “no.” The word “no” can sting. But in the end, it’s just a word. There are plenty of reasons a prospective donor will say no and it’s not a reflection on you in the slightest.
2. Authority. If you are paid by the organization or your name is on the list of board members, you’ve got this. Check.
3. Credibility. This comes as a result of your being able to utter these two words: JOIN ME. It is not likely that a prospect will ask you if you give. But you better well tell them. I give because <insert great story here>. I joined this board because…. I know that my gift matters because I have seen…. It is a privilege to be on the board and to be able to support this work financially. Will you JOIN ME with a gift of $500?
4. The ability to tell a good story. I was a natural with this one. Not only was I raised Catholic, I also could not possibly be more Irish. That said, this is a skill that must be learned and practiced. All across your organization.

How do you develop these skills? Find somebody associated with the organization who does it well and learn from them. For me, I had Julie Anderson, who was already on staff when I joined GLAAD in 1997. So I can’t say I was smart enough to hire her. But I was sure smart enough to listen to her.

ASKING FOR DONATIONS: THREE WAYS TO OVERCOME THE FEAR 

1. 1. It Makes People Feel Good To Give Money to Causes They Care About
      This is what I consider to be Willy Wonka’s Golden Ticket. Even high-powered grownups don’t get this. It’s not like some weird awkward thing like being pressured into buying a used car. When people write checks large or small, they are saying not just, “Yes I can do this,” but ,“Yes I WANT to do this.”
   2. Money = Programs
      Anxious board members sometimes worry that the donor prospect doesn’t know where her money will go – like you are going to add a speed oven in your new kitchen. Really? I have a client who ties the dollar amount of the ask to something specific. “Would you make a gift of $489? Odd number I know but it happens to be the number of calls that came into our help desk last week. Can I count on you?” Done right you’ll get $500.
   3. Remember It’s Your Job
      Maybe you’re on the staff and it’s literally your job. But asking for donations is the job of board members too. And if you were not told that when you were interviewed, I’m telling you right now. And if you are the Executive Director or the Finance Director or the receptionist, it’s your job too. Every single person associated with the organization should feel a duty to raise funds.

In the end, your love of your organization has to be bigger than your fear of asking.

This is so important, I’m going to repeat it.

The love of your organization has to be bigger than your fear of asking.

3 MORE RESOURCES TO IMPROVE YOUR FUNDRAISING

I told you earlier how lucky I was to learn from Julie during my time at GLAAD. But what if you don’t have a Julie? Where else can you go to learn more and develop your fundraising skills? That’s why I’ve created a number of resources for anybody who wants to get better at asking for donations. Here are 3 places to learn more.

1) Read the fundraising chapter in my book.

Now, without question, fundraising comes up all throughout the book. But I have an entire chapter in my book dedicated to fundraising. I discuss topics like:

• How do you get your board to fundraise successfully?
• What are all the ways you’ll screw this up (and why that’s OK)?
• Asking for the “right” kind of money (getting this right can make a HUGE difference for your organization).

Because it’s a book, I was able to get into these topics in MUCH more depth than I can in a blog post or podcast.

You can learn more about the book here.

2) Check out our series on “The Perfect Fundraising Plan.”

My colleague Seth Rosen, fundraiser extraordinaire, wrote a series here on the blog that is powerful for anybody responsible for fundraising.

Here’s a link to part 6 of the series (which links back to the first 5 parts): Time to Get More Creative With Your Fundraising?

3) Listen to a fundraising podcast.

Maybe you spend a lot of time in the car or on the treadmill? That’s a perfect time to listen to a podcast!

Here’s a cool episode I did with Brian Saber of Asking Matters called, “The Art and Science of Asking for Money”.

If you look on my podcast page, there are a bunch of episodes that focus on asking for donations.

ONE LAST THING

In the comments below, please share the one word you came up with at the beginning of this post. To remind you, you’re sitting across from someone at lunch. The person has an interest in your cause and you’re about to ask that person to make a $500 donation.

Write down, in the comments below, one word to describe exactly how you feel.

And then share the single biggest thing you took from this post that will help you overcome your fear of asking for donations.