The Power of a Good Ask

I’ve read many a post from Katya Andresen and Nancy Schwartz about the power of good marketing and its connection to fundraising and donor engagement. Each time I’ve read those posts I’ve nodded my head and said to myself, “sure, that makes sense.” Last night though, I actually had a chance to experience it as a donor and note the areas for improvement.

I attended an alumni reception for my college here in DC last night (thanks for coming with, Elizabeth!). I was excited to go and meet some other alumni as well as reconnect with the president of the college, whom I had known well while enrolled there. It was quite a small school, so after four years of making the rounds in a lot of student activities, I was familiar with and friends with many of the administrators and professors.

We spent an hour and a half or so mingling and then the formal program began. We watched a great video about the college’s latest advances and fundraising campaign and then the chair of the campaign committee and the president got up to speak. They were both very inspiring speeches about the power of the school to change lives; they highlighted the mission of the institution overall and how this fundraising campaign was helping to achieve it. They noted that of a $25 million goal, they had already raised $24.2 million. As a former donor and high-potential future donor, I was really excited! Not only were they doing a great job with this campaign, but I could have an impact in getting them to their goal!

And then, after all of that nostalgia, emotion and excitement…nothing. No ask for money, no envelope passing, no way to me to feel a part of the campaign other than having a few drinks at this reception. Huh?!

This isn’t the first time the college has bumbled in its fundraising/alumni engagement attempts:

• At least twice since graduating, I’ve been called by the advancement office to donate. No big deal you might think. Except for each time, I was called from an unlisted number at least 40 TIMES in the course of a couple of weeks—sometimes 3 or 4 times a day. I usually don’t pick up unlisted numbers, but I finally had to answer in order to ask them to stop harassing me. Now, I probably would have been willing to pick up the phone if they had called from a local number, (since I know the area code) and I probably would have been willing to donate if I had missed the call a couple of times. But after all that…not quite.
• They hosted a similar alumni event a couple of years ago here in DC. I had a great time and offered to help organizing future alumni events on a semi-regular basis, with their help. I handed over my card and got excited about the whole thing. And then, once again, nothing. No call back, no email, no outreach. What a waste of my good energy and excitement.
• I received an email from them a few months ago letting me know about their new social networking platform for current students and alumni. So I went and updated my information and got ready to network. And yet again, nothing. Perhaps they don’t realize this, but a social network takes some prodding and nudging to get moving. I haven’t yet received one blast email from them, not one reminder or prompting to log back in. I’m a busy person and reminders like that are what keep me engaged.

So, to my unnamed, private, nonprofit college, here are some lessons from a formerly (read, no longer) willing donor:

• Don’t treat me like an ATM. With a very few exceptions, the only thing I’ve ever gotten from you is appeals for money. And lame appeals at that. Frankly, I don’t care about the new dorm you’re building. I can’t use it and since I live so far away, I can’t even see it. The one time I donated is when you made a sincere ask to help fund a student life program that I was very involved in as a student. Which leads me to my next point…
• Keep the asks relevant to me. I was a student leader on campus. I was heavily involved in student activities, student senate, the Womyn’s Resource Center and my Political Science department. As I mentioned, I donated to the student life program and I’d be very willing to donate again if I thought my money was going to something beyond sports stadiums and science buildings (which seems to be the direction you all are going these days).
• Keep me engaged in the life of the college in a more active way, beyond just the money. ‘Nuff said.
• When you do have me in a place with other alumni who shared my experience, and we’re all misty-eyed remembering our college days, that is the time to ask me for money! Is there a better time to appeal to someone than when they are emotional and feel connected?? NO!
• In short, stop the form letters already. They go into my trash immediately and make me angry to boot.

I do still love my college and I’ll probably donate to them again at some point. Once I pay off the rest of my $20,000 student loan debt…