Fundraising for Social Change, 8th Edition

chapter NINEAsk Real Prospects

There is an old saying in fundraising: “You have a better chance of getting a gift if you ask than if you don't.” This is so true, but it is even more true that you have a better chance of getting a gift if you ask a prospect and not just a random passerby.

All our fundraising ought to be focused as much as possible on people we think would be interested in our work. Since personal solicitation is, by definition, done on a person‐by‐person basis, we need to spend time identifying specific individuals to ask. An email or direct mail solicitation is sent to a list of dozens or thousands of people we think are interested, but we don't go through the list name by name. Personal asking is the only strategy whereby we consider each person (or couple) individually. Because of that level of work, we generally focus on people who can make bigger gifts.

In larger organizations, personal solicitation is generally used to ask for gifts of at least $2,500 and often $5,000 or more. For smaller organizations, however, donors who could give a gift of $500 or more are worth the time a personal solicitation takes, and defining a major gift as $250 or more opens the possibility of more people becoming major donors.

Size of gift is not the only determinant of whom you ask personally, of course. Using the theory of resource mobilization, we know that social movements require all kinds of things besides money, so you should consider personal asks for items aside from ...