#5 Truth About Fundraising: How You Ask Matters
Transformative fundraising is far more then a "better way to ask."
In this final installment of our five-part series, all your efforts in community and economic development fundraising culminate in the pivotal moment of the "ask." If everything has been executed correctly up to this point, you have a solid foundation for a smooth solicitation process, significantly increasing the likelihood of securing commitments from your target investors.
To recap, here are the four foundational truths about fundraising that led us to the ask:
It’s important to note that following all the correct steps before making an ask doesn't guarantee investments, but bypassing them will guarantee minimal investments. What you’ve built with these truths is better credibility, relevance, asking rights, and alignment with community needs, dramatically increasing your chances.
Even with this foundation, every ask must still be performed strategically and professionally to build the best case for buy-in. Here are the five key elements of a professional ask:
In many ways, soliciting investments is just like sales. You have gatekeepers, decision-makers, and creative ways to get conversations with decision-makers. If you cannot reach decision-makers directly, tap into your network to identify someone who can reliably advocate for your plan.
Remember, you’re not selling transactional membership benefits or sponsorship opportunities, you’re inviting an investor into the backbone of a transformative plan for your community’s goals.
No one should ever be asked to simply “give.” Every major ask must be preceded with a significant amount of research and prospect evaluation to identify the most qualified candidates. At a minimum, your team should evaluate your target investor list with questions such as:
With the right criteria, you can rapidly create a list of likely investors, determine their interest and capacity, and determine an appropriate ask amount. The proven formula we recommend is INTEREST X CAPACITY = MAXIMUM PLEDGE.
It may seem presumptive to present a specific number, but prospective investors need and want guidance on an amount to consider. It should be high enough to “raise their sights” but not so large as to give them sticker shock, insult them, or scare them away. If framed as “fair and proportionate” to their capacity and level of interest in the plan, campaign goals, and their peer investors, large commitments are much easier to process.
Investors rarely commit without knowing the direct and indirect benefits on the table. As part of your prospect research and identification process, be prepared to quantitatively answer the question for them: “What’s in it for me?”
To empower the ask, most organizations include an Economic Impact Analysis (EIA) in their planning process, detailing the impacts of their multi-year strategy on the local economy and dozens of industry sectors. This provides a quantitative set of projections based on real data to demonstrate why and how an investor would benefit. Most importantly, an EIA is an indispensable tool for positioning your ask as a legitimate investment, not a charitable gift.
An old, but true, fundraising adage is that “people give to people.” You can offer the most impressive and compelling ROI data and benefits, but it’s invaluable to have the right people in the room who have also pledged and will reinforce your goals, plan, and message.
For large asks, we recommend including one of your investor’s peers during the solicitation. For smaller asks, peers can reach out before or after. Be strategic in choosing influencers, as their involvement can greatly enhance the prospect's response. For example, having your prospect’s best customer or competitor at your side will usually produce a positive outcome.
Before you ask, think strategically about your timeline. Build momentum early with those closest to your organization to get quick wins and set a steady pace throughout the asking process. Also, we recommend approaching your larger asks before smaller asks.
As we recently discussed, one major benefit from developing an ambitious plan is you’re already engaging your community’s most prominent leaders and prospective investors for feedback. They’ve warmed up to your plan and know what to expect, giving you a firm foundation of momentum.
As you make your way through your timeline, don’t forget to strategically sequence peer and competitor asks to maximize outcomes, motivate commitments, and keep your pace. For instance, securing a “capacity-level” pledge from a significant local bank can influence larger banks to contribute more — a strategy that can also be applied to hospitals, law firms, car dealers, and more.
The right ask comes from a firm foundation of planning, research, strategy, timing, peer influence, and personal touch. Raising funds is far more than asking for money, it’s finding your path to the center of your community’s economic future with the relevance that gives you better asking rights.
At NCDS, we’ve raised more than $1.8 billion for communities and organizations just like yours. We know even the most unique pitfalls and barriers to fundraising — and how your community can overcome them for the best results. Contact us any time for a free consultation.
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