Sponsored by: Asking Rights Tom Ralser October 30, 2013 Twitter Hashtag - #4Glearn Part Of:
May 11, 2015
Sponsored by:
Asking Rights
Tom Ralser October 30, 2013
Twitter Hashtag - #4Glearn
Part
Of:
Sponsored by:
Advising nonprofits in:
• Strategy
• Planning
• Organizational Development
www.synthesispartnership.com
(617) 969-1881
INTEGRATED PLANNING
Part
Of:
Sponsored by: Part
Of:
Coming Soon
Sponsored by:
Today’s Speaker
Tom Ralser Principle
Convergent Nonprofit Solutions
Assisting with chat questions: Jamie Maloney, 4Good
Founding Director of Nonprofit Webinars and Host:
Sam Frank, Synthesis Partnership
Part
Of:
Nonprofits have the legal right to
ask for money
Asking Rights TM
Nonprofits have the obligation to
ask for money
Asking Rights TM
Not all nonprofits have
Asking Rights
Many have not earned the right to
ask for money
“Son, what gives you the right
to ask me for money?”
Unique position to see macro trends
and common denominators
Experience (500+ projects)
National projects and local projects, nationally
All types (arts & culture, human services,
economic development, education,
health, etc.)
The Genesis
Why do some projects
experience wild success,
while others struggle?
Had to Ask . . .
Because they did not have
Asking Rights!
It Came Down to This:
What are they?
Asking Rights TM
The ability to deliver outcomes that
are valuable to investors
Asking Rights TM
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors
Asking Rights TM
Actually deliver on promises,
not print glossy brochures that
repeat your mission
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors
Asking Rights TM
Results in terms of impact on
customers’ lives, not just
measures of activity that tell
how the money was spent
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors
Asking Rights TM
Are they meaningful/
desired/coveted/longed for by
those whose investment made
them possible?
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors
Asking Rights TM
Those who make the outcomes
possible. Carries the expectation
of performance.
Outcomes are correlated to funding
Investors are different
Emotional and Rational Camps
Key Concepts
Outcomes Are Correlated
to Funding
TAX RATE
TAX
REVENUE
Theoretical concepts can
appeal to common sense:
the Laffer Curve
Outcomes Are Correlated
to Funding F
UN
DIN
G
OUTPUTS OUTCOMES
A nonprofit investor,
like any other investor,
is concerned with a
return on that investment
Investors Are Different More of a mindset than
actual amount of $
NOT donor, who
makes a gift!
Not an impulsive decision,
has multi-year commitments
How investors think can be
summed up by the following:
If you can’t demonstrate results (outcomes),
then you do not have the right to
ask for money.
If you can’t make your outcomes meaningful
to me, then you do not have the right to
ask me for money.
Emotional and Rational
Camps
Motivations
Giving Money to a Nonprofit
Emotional
Decision
Rational
Decision ?
Emotional Appeals Rational Appeals
Universe of Appeals
No information is better than
good information
Want the warm glow
We want to be like Warren
Emotional Camp
Sick beats healthy
We want to be winners
Blondes beat brunettes
Emotional Camp
Rational Camp
“The Rokia study points to a real danger in the
movement to encourage donors to give more
rationally. While most everyone would like to see
donors allocate their money based on a logical
understanding of the problems they hope their
gifts will solve, it turns out that encouraging
donors to act this way may thwart their natural
urge to give.”
Participants were given 5 $1 bills
Could give one to five dollars
Four scenarios with Identifiable
victims and/or statistical victims
Emotional "Proof"
The more statistical information
people were given, the less
generous they became
Conclusion
It's not that the studies are wrong,
it's that they are studies!
The Rest of the Story
Small amounts of money
Artificial circumstances
Subjects not personally connected
to the cause
Only deal with individuals, not
boards or families
Refuting Rokia
Somewhat risky to base your funding
strategy on privileged twenty-
somethings that made trivial decisions
about insignificant amounts of money
that was just given to them
Refuting Rokia
These exercises have little to do
with the outcomes delivered by
the organization
The conclusion has become perverse
Can't Make the Leap
Emotional Appeals
Rational
Appeals
Sweet Spot =
Largest Investments
Universe of Appeals
On an individual level, easy to spot
Collectively, more difficult
Commonalities
1. Outcomes
2. Credibility
Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
Outcomes + Credibility = Asking Rights
These accounted for most,
but not all successes
Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
Outcomes + Credibility + Fundraising Skills
= Asking Rights
Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
C + F + O = AR
Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
Let’s define each component
C + F + O
Asking Rights
Examples of Success
Strongest Component: Credibility
Type of Organization: Value-added Transitional Housing
Campaign Goal: $6.5 million
Asking Rights
Examples of Success
Strongest Component: Fundraising Skills
Type of Organization: National Sports Hall of Fame
Campaign Goal: $6 million
Asking Rights
Examples of Success
Strongest Component: Outcomes
Type of Organization: Youth Services
Campaign Goal: $1.35 million
Asking Rights
Examples of Struggle
Weakest Component: Credibility
Type of Organization: Museum of Art and Science
Campaign Goal: $6.5 million
Asking Rights
Examples of Struggle
Weakest Component: Fundraising Skills
Type of Organization: International Institution of Higher Education
Campaign Goal: $2 million
Asking Rights
Examples of Struggle
Weakest Component: Outcomes
Type of Organization: Startup Health Services
Campaign Goal: $6.5 million
The Investment-Driven Model™
Asking Rights
The Recipe
The Recipe
1.Discovering Investor Motivations
2.Translating Your Outcomes to Value
3.Matching Your Value to Investor Motivations
4.Using Campaign Dynamics to Maximize Funding
The Recipe
1.Discovering Investor Motivations
2.Translating Your Outcomes to Value
3.Matching Your Value to Investor Motivations
4.Using Campaign Dynamics to Maximize Funding
Investable Outcomes™
Emotional, rational, both?
Ask’em
Often done backwards
More art than science
Speaking of Motivations…
Why Do You Give?
Worksheet 1
Why Do You Give? Please circle one response per question
1. When are you most likely to give?
A. When asked in person B. When asked by telephone C. When asked by mail D. When asked by email E. When asked by social media
2. When asked in person to give, in which situation are you most likely to give?
A. When someone you know asks you to give B. When someone you do not know personally, but representing a nonprofit that you
are familiar with, asks you to give C. When someone that you do not know personally, representing a nonprofit that you
are not familiar with, asks you to give
3. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest in a nonprofit?
A. A hand-written letter from an acquaintance (not a personal friend) B. A form with predetermined financial levels that you can check C. A note with a small gift (value under $5) D. A brochure with a picture of a person in need looking directly at you
4. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest $25 in a nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify B. Being asked by someone you know
5. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest $500 in a
nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify B. Being asked by someone you know
6. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest in a nonprofit?
A. A nonprofit that you identify with, but are not sure they are delivering valuable results
B. A nonprofit that you do not identify with, but are confident they are delivering valuable results
Summarizing Your Attributes
1. What channel(s) do you
believe to be most effective? (#1)
87% when asked in person
2. What situation(s)? (#2)
85% when know the person asking
3. What medium(s)? (#3)
61% when not in person, a hand-written note
Which of the following is most likely
to cause you to invest $25 in
a nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify 55%
B. Being asked by someone you know 38%
Which of the following is most likely
to cause you to invest $500 in
a nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify 64%
B. Being asked by someone you know 27%
Which of the following is most likely to
cause you to invest in a nonprofit?
A. A nonprofit that you identify with, but
are not sure they are delivering valuable
results 25%
B. A nonprofit that you do not identify with,
but are confident they are delivering
valuable results 73%
1. Cause trumps personal channel,
even more so as amounts
goes up
2. Results trump cause
Bottom Line
Which is why the One Sentence
Introduction of Asking Rights is this:
Takeaways
Outcomes are correlated to funding
There are alternatives to the old fallback
of emotional appeals and volunteer asks
Don’t be afraid of rational motivations
The right ingredients, combined into
the right recipe, make for a highly
sustainable organization
Things to Remember If
Nothing Else:
Not everyone has Asking Rights.
They are earned, not given just because you are a nonprofit.
Everyone is capable of developing Asking Rights.
It just takes effort and an organization-wide commitment.
There is more to Asking Rights than just asking for money.
Even though the IRS says you can ask people for money, it does not
mean you will be successful at it.
Those that have Asking Rights make their value obvious.
These organizations stand apart from the ones that don’t and will have a
smoother road to sustainable funding.
It’s more about the right outcomes being valued than how the
value is determined.
It’s not how good your aim is, but whether you are aiming at the right
targets.
An investor’s motivations are different than a donor’s.
Ignore this at your own peril.
Things to Remember If
Nothing Else:
Learn more about
Asking Rights Follow us online for exclusive Asking Rights
excerpts, insights, and discussions, as well as
staying up to date on book release details, special
offers, and future speaking events.
@FundingResults #AskingRights
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