Too Much!!!!

A question I often get is "when am I asking too often?"  I thought about that the other day when listening to a NY Times Podcast  I realized that all the Times podcasts I Iisten to have ads touting the merits of YouTube Premium.  And not just one ad, but always two.

What this over-advertising has convinced me of is not the wonderfulness of YouTube.  Rather, it has convinced me that I will never, ever purchase YouTube Premium.

The ads are awful.  Annoying.

This is often a problem with nonprofits who have suddenly decided that more is what they should do and if they ask you often enough, you’ll say yes.

NO!!!!!

That’s not how things work.

So what IS asking too much?  Well, that depends.

If you are always asking and never providing important context to that asking, even one ask a year can be too much.

On the other hand, if you are reaching out pretty regularly, explaining why what you do is important and how critical their support is, you can actually ask quite a few times.

Popular wisdom does talk about the importance of asking—but asking in the right way at the right time (actually, there are a bunch of rights you need to line up:  Right person asking, right prospect being asked, right person being asked for the  right gift to support the right program, at the right time, in the right way).   And yes, people often give because someone they trust asked them to support something they care about.

But that is the key.  The YouTube ad uses celebrities who mostly I don’t know (and the one I do know I have no reason to trust).  This is often the issue when the appeal that goes out is signed by the Development Director

I’ve been that development director, but typically, this is not the person who elicits trust.  Not because they are untrustworthy, but because they are not people that donors consider peers.  They are paid staff.  And while the CEO is a better choice, a true peer—a board member, and other donor—or someone who benefits from the donor’s generosity are much better choices.

This is particularly true when it comes time to ask for a larger gift.  Not that the peer is actually charged with asking.  When I was that development staff, I always did the ask.  But I had much greater success when I had a peer alongside of me.

And as for the right program, the right time, and the right amount—that, more than anything, takes getting to know the donor.  It means knowing what matters to them; what they want to accomplish with their generosity, what kind of impact they desire.

And, armed with that information, your asks will never be awful or annoying.