How do great fundraisers raise much more than average guys?

They make sure, each and every time they ask for a donation, to make their request: 

  • SIMPLE
  • URGENT
  • EMOTIONAL

(Here we’re just talking about the actual last part of the fundraising process called the “ASK.”)

Let’s take a quick look to see how you can use this to help your efforts.

Keep your request SIMPLE

Raising funds is about getting people to do something they quickly understand. And that they want to do.

You don’t have to educate them or give them a lot of background. None of this really matters, since it does not motivate them to action.

Instead, make your request in a way which will show the donor how their donation will allow you and your organization to change the world in one simple and achievable way.

e.g., “Can you help us take one more unaffiliated Jew on our life changing Israel program?

Can you help us establish a follow-up program for Sarah and many others like her who have been inspired to take the next step in their Jewish journey?

Take note, your simple message often has to be repeated numerous times for the donor to ‘get it.’

Show the URGENCY

In fundraising, you have to give potential donors a reason to respond RIGHT NOW. Later is not good enough.

e.g., “We need to book the flights by next week…”

“We need to start the follow up program next month, so we need have clarity right away to get the program start.”

Also, it’s important, that we give them a sense of what will happen if they don’t respond.

e.g., “If we don’t raise an additional $100K, there will be Jewish students who will never have this opportunity again.”

Make it EMOTIONAL

People make their giving decisions with their HEARTS, not with their heads.

The argument you need to make, if you want people to give, is an EMOTIONAL one.

You have to ‘break their heart’ with a problem or ‘excite them’ with an opportunity.

e.g., “When Sarah came on our Israel trip last year, it was the first time she experienced an authentic Shabbat. Because of this, she decided to learn more, and this led her to breakup with her non-Jewish boyfriend. Now, she desperately wants to come back on our follow-up program. She’ll be a mother to future generations of connected Jews. If we don’t raise an additional $25K by next week, then we won’t be able to take her and others like her. Would you give her the opportunity to live an inspired Jewish life, by sponsoring her trip?”

The reality is, facts and figures don’t move donors from one place to another, but emotion does.

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How can you APPLY THIS?

Take five minutes, right now, and write out or speak out a fundraising request to a specific donor making it SIMPLE, URGENT AND EMOTIONAL.

What is your simple request?

Where is the urgency in this request?

What story are you telling that’s going to resonate with your donor?

What’s going to be your emotional motivator to get your donor to give?

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