I remember—many eons ago—watching over and over again a very old-school set of tapes on fundraising by Kim Klein. Kim has a great training mode—story & lesson & joke (repeat)—and boy, did it ever sink in! Those old tapes were infused with a sense of purpose and meaning—and although I may not be the best fundraiser in the world, my meager grasp of the most basic abiding principles all come from Kim. And they have served me well, no matter what the exact strategy.
“Don’t eat salad when having lunch with a potential donor. Too much room for fork-to-mouth errors.” (Violated often by yours truly.)
“Don’t let those ‘nos’ get you down. Every ‘no’ brings you closer to a ‘yes.’”
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“Everyone—but everyone—should be asked.”
They all resound in my brain as lessons learned at Kim’s knee (even though we are probably the same age).
And this particular article from Kim, “Asking the Right Person for the Right Amount,” is a classic not to be missed. I am thrilled to share it with you—and please, help others learn by sharing your own advice about “THE ASK” in the Comments section.