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It ain't friendraising… it's fundraising
Popular opinion is wrong.
Usually, it is believed that extroverts make the best sales people (and fundraisers).
But, according to tons of recent research including this paper written by Adam M. Grant (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), there is actually a weak and inconsistent relationship between extroversion and sales performance.
My take on it:
Extroverts tend to be very outgoing, social and overtly expressive. They want to be friends with people. But friendship can get in the way of your efforts to close gifts. Tweet This! Friendship calls for too much empathy. And, since most fundraisers are not multi-millionaires, if they are extraverted they won’t be able to imagine what it’s like to part with large sums of money ($1 million for instance). If they are extroverted they might feel empathy toward a donor that isn’t necessary because the donor actually wants to give the money away. They just need a facilitator to help them do it.
Here’s what I’m saying:
Don’t be the person who only makes friends with supporters but never asks for the gift. Tweet This! Realize that asking isn’t what some might think. Rather, asking is really facilitating. Tweet This!
Related Posts
>> Fundraising Vs. Facilitating
>> How to get great fundraising advice without reading an entire book
Recommendations from other blogs
>> Time to Change the Way You Communicate With Donors: From Multichannel to Omnichannel Communications
>> Who Will Lead Us Out of The Wrong Marketing Patradigm We’re Stuck In?
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Get the book!
Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
Want to help more people make impact by facilitating their acts of philanthropy but feel like too many obstacles keep getting in your way?
Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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Fundraising requires fundamental principles and skills that leads to professionalism. Being a good MARKETER does not translate you neither qualify you as resourceful fundraiser.