Asking Permission to Ask and More Great Advice from Bill Bartolini, ACFRE

Last week I spoke at Congress (AFP’s signature Canadian conference). This conference attracts some of the best speakers worldwide, in addition to fundraisers from across Canada.

Between my sessions, I sat in on a talk given by fundraising expert, Bill Bartolini, ACFRE.

Who is Bill Bartolini, ACFRE?

If you’re unfamiliar with Bill Bartolini, he’s one of the best fundraisers in the country. Most recently, he helped to complete successful capital campaigns at George Washington University and then at Ohio State, where each school raised over a billion dollars.

So much of the information Bill shared is fundraising gold. With that in mind, I wanted to share some of Bill’s wisdom so that you’re able to benefit from it, too.

Bill primarily spoke about framing questions before asking donors, and then how to ask donors a series of deep, thoughtful questions related to their values and philanthropy. The frame (or context) is important — otherwise well-intentioned questions can come across as probing and even awkward.

With that in mind, here are some of Bill’s tips that you can apply to the conversations you have with your donors.

Build Trust by Asking Permission to Ask

Fundraisers often ask me (Amy, not Bill) if they should let the donor know they are coming to ask. My answer (Amy again) is always, “Yes!” You don’t want to surprise your donor or catch them off guard. After all, fundraising is about trust.

Bill suggests that you “ask permission to ask.” For example, he says:

• “I would love to schedule a time to ask for your support. Can we get something on the calendar for next week?”
• “Who would you like to ask you for the gift?”
• “What level of gift should we be asking you for?”
• “What type of impact would you like to have?”
• “Do you mind sharing with us…”

That last one is not about asking for money, but rather about asking for their thoughts and opinions. Ask permission to have a conversation.

Encourage Your Donor to Say More

The best fundraisers are also good listeners. They learn about their donors and what motivates them. Here are some key phrases you should use to get more from your donors.

• Could you go deeper?
• Could you say more about that? …or… Tell me more.
• What kind of information might change your mind?
• Help me understand more about that.

Ask Key Questions to Get at a Donor’s Desires

If you really want to raise big gifts, you will need to understand what motivates your donors… what drives their intentions and desires. What do they get emotional about? What’s really important to them?

Here are some key questions Bill highlighted to get at this vital information.

• What do you want to be remembered for?
• What will your organization look like in 10 years?
• What will be your legacy?
• What are you proudest of?
• What is your earliest memory of giving back? How has that experience influenced you as an adult?
• If you could wave a magic wand and change the world, what changes would you make?

Your Role with Your Donors

Regarding your role, Bill says, “You are there to facilitate philanthropy.” In other words, it’s up to you to help your donors do good things.

From now on, whenever anyone asks me what I do for a living, I’m going to respond, “I help people do good things.” I’ve never heard a better description of fundraising than that!

So, go on… stop reading. Get out there and do what you do best — help people in your community to do good things!