You have roughly 5-6 weeks left in the year to have face-to-face conversations with your donors and to ask for gifts. I say that because all of your donor meetings really should be wrapped up by December 15^th as it becomes way too busy for people to meet with you during the holidays.

You might be reluctant to ask for a gift. This could be for several reasons.

1. You don’t know your donor’s passions and interests—This is understandable, but this is not an excuse. Yes, ultimately for a transformative gift, you will need to know this. But that doesn’t mean you can’t ask. I recommend that you review the donor’s giving history and determine what they gave their gifts towards. Use that as your guide solicit your donor.
2. The donor already gave this year—I don’t know how this has happened, but in the major gift world, we’ve come to believe that donors only give once a year. Nope! We know for a fact this is not true… if you ask for more than one gift. If you know a donor would love to fund something that interests them, but you don’t ask again, you are denying your donor the ability to find joy in their giving. Take the risk that you will inspire your donor to give again this year with something they are passionate about.
3. You’re afraid—The donor has always given on their own, or they give through a direct mail piece, or “It just always comes in at the end of the year,” and you don’t want to rock the boat. We create these stories in our heads about donor motivations. From my experience, they are usually wrong. We create these stories to make us feel better about not asking. I urge you to get out of your comfort zone, use our Permission-Based Asking model, and do what donors want you to do… ask them for a gift. Remind yourself that donors want to give, but they also want to be asked. Put yourself out there and do that hard work. You will not regret it.

You believe that your mission is worthy of philanthropic dollars. The donors in your portfolio also believe this. You are the bridge between the need and your donor’s desire to change the world.

Bring them together, today!

Jeff