Recently, I went to a breakfast with donors who have left planned gifts to the sponsoring organization. One of the planned giving officers told us about his early years with the nonprofit:
About 40 years ago, when I was in my 20's my first assignment was to visit the railroad president. He was a supporter but we hadn't heard from him for a while.
So I made an appointment and stopped by. I've been in impressive offices but this was overwhelming. His walls were filled with the heads of big game he had shot all over the world.
I looked around and decided to start a conversation about the biggest one. He told me all about where he went and how the hunt was conducted.
The next month I went in to visit him and we chatted about another trophy. This went on for a few months. Then we opened the paper one day and found out he died. My boss said, 'Well, I guess we'll see how you did and what was left to us."
We were given all the trophies. The moral of the story is to be sure to make an ask!
I agree! You will need to be specific and when you get to know someone well enough, you will know exactly what to ask for. Or you will be lucky enough to be the recipient of the "pressure-free ask" and your prospect will ask, "How can I help you?"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment