Aspects of a Good Fundraising Ask

Personal calls from the candidate asking for money are the most important, most cost-effective, and highest impact tool in the campaign’s quest to build financial support. The following are some key principles for successful fundraising asks when dialing for dollars.

First of all, fundraising call time must be treated as sacred in any political campaign. In order to reach your financial goals, you will need to set out weekly and daily call goals, and meeting those goals is going to be impossible if you treat call time as free time on your calendar.

Second, it’s like the tortoise and the hare. You are going to get ahead by applying regular and consistent effort day in and day out. That’s why fundraising call time needs to be scheduled regularly to have the most benefit.

Just like any kind of sales, the toughest part is to just start asking and then continuing to ask as many of the right people as possible. It’s like jumping in a pool. At first it’s uncomfortable, but then you get acclimated. With call time, you have to get into your flow. To allow you to do that your time slot for calls should be at least 3 hours without interruptions. Every time you allow an interruption, getting back into your flow will be like jumping in the pool again for the first time. By blocking off a few hours at a time and preventing interruptions, a candidate should be able to make at least 30-50 calls per day. Though, from my experience, a candidate should be trying to make 25 calls per hour.

When it comes to the actual calls, the “Ask” is the most important aspect.

Be specific. Be specific about the amount you need, when you need it, what you need it for, and how you are going to get the donation in hand. This is probably the most important principle when it comes to almost every part of a successful fundraising call.

The “Ask” absolutely must include a specific amount for the prospective donor to give. Usually this is created by doing research about the prospective donor’s history, who they have given to in the past as well as their employer/occupation history, and any personal knowledge the candidate or a finance committee member might have on the individual.

Asking for a specific amount ensures that you will get a donation and more likely a larger amount than you would get without being specific. To be safe, you should ask for an amount a bit above their giving ability rather than under because you don’t want to sell yourself short.

If the person says “No” to your first amount, then ask them for a lower amount and continue to work down the ladder because the lesser amount now seems more reasonable by comparison. At this point, you can also ask them what they are able to give right now if they don’t agree to your suggested amount. Always have a back-up ask. The best time to get someone to say “Yes,” is the moment after they say “No.” It goes against human nature to say “No” twice because people want to be liked.

Also, an effective trick I’ve picked up is that once you make the ask, STOP TALKING!! Usually, if candidates keep talking after they make their specific ask, they talk themselves out of the potential contribution. For instance, “Hey Bob, I really need your help with funding for a get out the vote mail piece by the end of this week. Can I count on you to cover $1,000 of the cost?” STOP TALKING and wait for Bob to say something. It’s okay for there to be a bit of silence or awkwardness. Make him be the one to flat out say “No.” He will most likely either say “sure” or “I can’t do $1,000, but how about $500.” Even though it’s not as much as you were hoping for, you just got $500 more than you had before.

The most important thing is to get them to commit to a specific amount, not a general “I’ll send you something.” Sending “something” is much more likely to turn into “nothing” than if you got a specific commitment. Getting a specific commitment also helps you keep track of what pledges are outstanding and you know how much to expect from people.

Remember, the best way to have someone agree to give you something is right after they have said “No” to you.  So if they say “No,” don’t stop at that, ask them for something else until they agree to give you something – even if it is just a few names and numbers of other potential donors. Don’t let a “No” prevent you from being successful. Even the best fundraisers have days where more than 70% of their calls end with a “No.”

How a conversation should go:

• Start out with an introduction of who you are (if you don’t already know them) and some brief small talk. Find a commonality and build rapport. If you don’t know the person, explain why you are calling and how you got their name. Mention what friend or colleague you have in common or, if you have researched their donor history and found that they have given to candidates in the past that support you, and let them know that so they feel like they have common interests with you.

• Explain why you decided to run, what issues you are running on, your message, what makes your campaign different, and how you plan to win. If you know their employer and occupation information, you should be able to figure out some important issues to them. Make sure you talk about these. If you don’t know, ask them what issues are important to them and then explain your stance on those issues.

• Make them feel like they have the inside scoop on what is going on in the campaign (endorsements, future announcements, strategy and polling numbers, who is working for the campaign, how much you have raised, and how much it will cost to win).

• Ask them for a specific amount of money. Aim higher rather than lower. All they can do is say “No” to your suggested amount and give you less.

• After you ask for the specific amount, STOP TALKING! Let the person you are speaking with be the one to break the silence. It doesn’t matter if it’s awkward, that’s okay. Make them be the one to talk and directly answer your ask. If they come back and say “No”, then ask them for a lower amount.

• As you ask them to donate a specific amount, be sure to explain why you need the money. Donors like to know what specifically their money is going towards. You can say it’s for a mail piece, radio or TV ads, yard signs – things they can see, hear or touch. Don’t give them examples like overhead costs such as salaries or the rent. These expenses will not excite the donor.

• Make the donor feel the urgency of getting the money to the campaign. If it’s the end of a reporting period, give them a goal that you are trying to reach and how their donation will help you get there. If the specific reason you give the donor for needing the donation is a media buy, be sure to tell them you have to have the money upfront for this purchase and when you need the money by in order to be on TV.

• Ask them when and how you can count on getting their donation. They can do it online, send a check that day or someone from the campaign can go pick it up that day if they are located nearby. Give them the options of how they can get the money to you quickly.

• After the call, send a follow-up email thanking them for their pledge and reminding them by when you need it and how they can get it to you. This means you need to ask them for their email when you have them on the phone. The unfortunate truth is that you will likely have to track down most of your pledges. Sometimes it’s because the prospective donor is procrastinating in writing the check, waiting to see if you forget, or sometimes people just get busy and forget. Make sure you remind them! Don’t be surprised if only 70-80% of pledges are ever received by the campaign.

Last, but not least, be grateful. Once you have received a contribution, make sure you write a prompt thank you note. Don’t let these pile-up. Get them done quickly and regularly. If you never thank them for their first donation, it will make it much harder to get them to give a second donation.

Assuming you have properly thanked the donor in a timely manner, you can follow-up with the same person 6-8 weeks later for another contribution. Once an individual is a donor, they are more likely to give again because they are already invested in the campaign and your success. It’s like the old saying, “In for a penny, in for a pound.”

Fundraising is hard work. No one ever said it was going to be easy, but with a consistent daily commitment to raising funds, you can be successful.