Now comes the next step. It's time to ask for money specific money. Because if all you do is say, hey, TJ, I'm trying to raise money for this great charity the United Way, will you send some money? And I say, Sure, fine, happy to thanks so much. DJ, gotta go quick. If that's all you do, well, guess what?
Maybe I send you money, but maybe I wait two months, and maybe I send you $5 and you were expecting $50,000? Well, whose problem is that? It's not my problem. It's your problem because you left money on the table presuming I can pay a lot more than $5 you don't ever want to let someone off the hook with something so general is can you give Can you donate? Because if the person gives you even one penny, they kept their promise. Now, I'm not stressing high pressure techniques.
I'm not suggesting you become a used car salesman and twist people's arms. I try to manipulate them. All I'm suggesting is that your direct, straightforward and doing what you've done, you've presumably already donated to this organization. You're donating your time right now. And you want them to do the same thing. So here's the key to asking for money.
Money is abstract, saying money and people don't visualize anything. The organization needs money. Well, the federal government needs money. Everybody needs money. That's not concrete enough. You've got to make it specific.
So for example, if you are running for the local school board, and you've called a friend, and you know, this person has means don't just say, Hey, I'm running for school board. Can you help? Can you send a check? Sure. Click. Be very, very specific.
Say, Sally, I'm running for school board. As you know, you and I both have a long standing commitment to education I want give them your home. message, try to connect with the person. Say thank you very much for expressing your willingness to help my campaign. I specifically need hundred and 27 yard signs. By next Thursday, I've got to have these yard signs and it's going to be exactly $727.
Can you help me with this amount? Now people can visualize yard signs. They know if it's like in most communities, other school board candidates spend money on yard signs. They know it doesn't fall from the sky. It's not free. Presumably you're running a serious campaign.
And this is a legitimate need. You're not saying send me a bunch of money because you know, I don't know we might want to go out to an expensive lunch. Tell them exactly what the money is going to give them a specific amount. People like to know what they're getting. They'd like to know what they're paying for even if it's not going into their pocket. They like to know specifically, how they are helping, the more specific you are, the more they can visualize exactly where their money is going, the better off you're going to be, the greater the chances are, that they're going to say yes, and commit to a very specific dollar amount.
So there's nothing wrong with saying these yard signs are going to be $721. Can you send me a check for $721? Now, I do realize those of you working for, for example, large university endowments, you're trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. You can't always quantify it that way, but to the extent you can, it's going to make it easier to raise the money it's easier for the potential donor to see exactly where the money's going. So that's your homework. Right now, think of something in the organization you're trying to raise money for.
Come up with a target amount from the donor you're going after and paint a specific picture. You may be trying to raise money for your local school charity. You might be in high school, you're trying to raise $10 from someone or you might be trying to raise a major endowment and you want an entire building and you want someone to donate $3 million, figure out exactly what it is, but come up with a very specific price tag and be able to describe exactly what your prospective donor is going to be paying for.