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Being a fundraising volunteer isn’t easy. One of the main reasons why is that it is so personal. It’s you, connecting with your peers, possibly even your friends or family, to ask them to be generous towards a cause you believe in. For even the most passionate volunteer, the experience can be a little nerve-wracking.

Nearly every big ask in my career as a staffer and consultant – whether it be an ask for a lead gift or a key leadership position – started with a no.

There is a legend in baseball that one of the reasons Ted Williams was such a great hitter was due to his ability to see the seams on the baseball as it came hurling toward him at 95 miles an hour. Supposedly, his eyesight was so good, he could essentially slow the ball down, seeing the seam and curve of the ball, making it easier to hit.

Confession: I am a graduate of the Ohio State University. Having lived in Wisconsin for the past 18 years, I have endured the wrath of Badger fans and even a number of Michigan folks. Much of this comes from friends and seemingly sane people who really don’t like my Buckeyes. Even more so after the win over Michigan and 59 – 0 embarrassment the Badgers endured during their loss in the Big Ten finals to OSU. They don’t just dislike us; they hate us.

As I work with nonprofit staff and volunteer leaders, I often get this question: “How do you ask someone for a $1,000+ gift?”

At Donor By Design, we are guided by a series of axioms: core concepts that shape our work and have proven their worth over and over again. In this series, we’re digging into these axioms and clarify how they can help you achieve your development goals. Read Part 1 or Part 2. 

For years, the big fundraising lie has been the donor pyramid. You know what I am talking about: the image of a pyramid that shows we need a large gift at the top, a few more at the next level and so on until you get to the base of the pyramid. Nonprofit leaders have shared this with their boards and donors, but, if you do regression analysis on campaigns, the infamous pyramid looks more like a donor pagoda or, as I like to call it, the donor champagne glass.

I recently visited with the staff of a local nonprofit organization.
We were reviewing their 2014 campaign and discussing strategies for 2015. As usual, we talked about renewals and new prospects. We also talked about where executives’ and board members’ time is best spent. How do we cultivate our closer friends now to have the right to ask for an annual major gift in a few months? This question is critical to enhancing the major gifts portion of any annual campaign, and will also be a cultivation step for future capital giving for these annual donors.
But one executive put it perfectly when identifying what’s good use of her time right now. Simply put, she said “don’t water the rocks!”
What does it mean to “not water the rocks”?

Recently I was enjoying lunch with a client team. At one point in the animated conversation, one of the development staff handed a card to her colleague. It was a simple white business card with only two words:

For the longest time I avoided giving gift cards as presents. It seemed like such an impersonal gesture. I had visions of the recipients stuffing all their newly acquired gift cards into their wallets and heading off to the mall without a single thought as to who gave them what card or attaching any kind of significance or meaning to them other than the dollar value encoded on the magnetic strip.

I must admit that I am a bit impatient. My patience (or lack there of) has been tested in 2014 as travel delays due to weather (think polar vortex) have been maddening. I can’t wait for spring!