The document outlines the concept of 'asking rights' for nonprofits, emphasizing that organizations must demonstrate their ability to deliver valuable outcomes to earn the right to ask for funding. It differentiates between emotional and rational motivations of investors, urging nonprofits to focus on measurable results rather than just emotional appeals. Ultimately, it stresses that successful fundraising relies on a combination of outcomes, credibility, and effective fundraising skills.

1. Asking Rights
Tom Ralser
October 30, 2013
Twitter Hashtag - #4Glearn
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Advising nonprofits in:
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4. Today’s Speaker
Tom Ralser
Principle
Convergent Nonprofit Solutions
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6. Asking Rights
TM
Nonprofits have the legal right to
ask for money

7. Asking Rights
TM
Nonprofits have the obligation to
ask for money

8. Not all nonprofits have
Asking Rights

9. Many have not earned the right to
ask for money

10. “Son, what gives you the right
to ask me for money?”

11. The Genesis
Unique position to see macro trends
and common denominators
 Experience (500+ projects)
 National projects and local projects, nationally
 All types (arts & culture, human services,
economic development, education,
health, etc.)

12. Had to Ask . . .
Why do some projects
experience wild success,
while others struggle?

13. It Came Down to This:
Because they did not have
Asking Rights!

14. Asking Rights
TM
What are they?

15. Asking Rights
TM
The ability to deliver outcomes that
are valuable to investors

16. Asking Rights
TM
Actually deliver on promises,
not print glossy brochures that
repeat your mission
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors

17. Results in terms of impact on
customers’ lives, not just
measures of activity that tell
how the money was spent
Asking Rights
TM
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors

18. Asking Rights
TM
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors
Are they meaningful/
desired/coveted/longed for by
those whose investment made
them possible?

19. Asking Rights
TM
Ability to deliver outcomes that are
valuable to investors
Those who make the outcomes
possible. Carries the expectation
of performance.

20. Key Concepts
 Outcomes are correlated to funding
 Investors are different
 Emotional and Rational Camps

21. Outcomes Are Correlated
to Funding
Theoretical concepts can
appeal to common sense:
the Laffer Curve
TAX
REVENUE
TAX RATE

22. FUNDING
Outcomes Are Correlated
to Funding
OUTPUTS
OUTCOMES

23. Investors Are Different
More of a mindset than
actual amount of $
A nonprofit investor,
like any other investor,
NOT donor, who
makes a gift!
is concerned with a
return on that investment
Not an impulsive decision,
has multi-year commitments

24. How investors think can be
summed up by the following:
If you can’t demonstrate results (outcomes),
then you do not have the right to
ask for money.
If you can’t make your outcomes meaningful
to me, then you do not have the right to
ask me for money.

25. Emotional and Rational
Camps

26. Motivations

27. Giving Money to a Nonprofit
Emotional
Decision
?
Rational
Decision

28. Universe of Appeals
Emotional Appeals
Rational Appeals

29. Emotional Camp
 No information is better than
good information
 Want the warm glow
 We want to be like Warren

30. Emotional Camp
 Sick beats healthy
 We want to be winners
 Blondes beat brunettes

31. Rational Camp
“The Rokia study points to a real danger in the
movement to encourage donors to give more
rationally. While most everyone would like to see
donors allocate their money based on a logical
understanding of the problems they hope their
gifts will solve, it turns out that encouraging
donors to act this way may thwart their natural
urge to give.”

32. Emotional "Proof"
 Participants were given 5 $1 bills
 Could give one to five dollars
 Four scenarios with Identifiable
victims and/or statistical victims

33. Conclusion
The more statistical information
people were given, the less
generous they became

34. The Rest of the Story
It's not that the studies are wrong,
it's that they are studies!

35. Refuting Rokia
 Small amounts of money
 Artificial circumstances
 Subjects not personally connected
to the cause
 Only deal with individuals, not
boards or families

36. Refuting Rokia
Somewhat risky to base your funding
strategy on privileged twentysomethings that made trivial decisions
about insignificant amounts of money
that was just given to them

37. Can't Make the Leap
 These exercises have little to do
with the outcomes delivered by
the organization
 The conclusion has become perverse

38. Universe of Appeals
Sweet Spot =
Largest Investments
Emotional Appeals
Rational
Appeals

39. Commonalities
 On an individual level, easy to spot
 Collectively, more difficult

40. Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
1. Outcomes
2. Credibility

41. Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
Outcomes + Credibility = Asking Rights
These accounted for most,
but not all successes

42. Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
Outcomes + Credibility + Fundraising Skills
= Asking Rights

43. Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
C + F + O = AR

44. Asking Rights
The Ingredients/Formula
Let’s define each component
C+F+O

45. Asking Rights
Examples of Success
Strongest Component: Credibility
Type of Organization: Value-added Transitional Housing
Campaign Goal:
$6.5 million

46. Asking Rights
Examples of Success
Strongest Component: Fundraising Skills
Type of Organization: National Sports Hall of Fame
Campaign Goal:
$6 million

47. Asking Rights
Examples of Success
Strongest Component: Outcomes
Type of Organization: Youth Services
Campaign Goal:
$1.35 million

48. Asking Rights
Examples of Struggle
Weakest Component: Credibility
Type of Organization: Museum of Art and Science
Campaign Goal:
$6.5 million

49. Asking Rights
Examples of Struggle
Weakest Component: Fundraising Skills
Type of Organization: International Institution of
Higher Education
Campaign Goal:
$2 million

50. Asking Rights
Examples of Struggle
Weakest Component: Outcomes
Type of Organization: Startup Health Services
Campaign Goal:
$6.5 million

51. Asking Rights
The Recipe
The Investment-Driven Model™

52. The Recipe
1. Discovering Investor Motivations
2. Translating Your Outcomes to Value
3. Matching Your Value to Investor Motivations
4. Using Campaign Dynamics to Maximize Funding

53. Emotional, rational, both?
The Recipe
Ask’em
1. Discovering Investor Motivations
Investable Outcomes™
2. Translating Your Outcomes to Value
3. Matching Your Value to Investor Motivations
4. Using Campaign Dynamics to Maximize Funding
Often done backwards
More art than science

54. Speaking of Motivations…
Why Do You Give?

55. Worksheet 1
Why Do You Give?
Please circle one response per question
1. When are you most likely to give?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
When asked in person
When asked by telephone
When asked by mail
When asked by email
When asked by social media
2. When asked in person to give, in which situation are you most likely to give?
A. When someone you know asks you to give
B. When someone you do not know personally, but representing a nonprofit that you
are familiar with, asks you to give
C. When someone that you do not know personally, representing a nonprofit that you
are not familiar with, asks you to give
3. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest in a nonprofit?
A. A hand-written letter from an acquaintance (not a personal friend)
B. A form with predetermined financial levels that you can check
C. A note with a small gift (value under $5)
D. A brochure with a picture of a person in need looking directly at you
4. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest $25 in a nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify
B. Being asked by someone you know
5. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest $500 in a
nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify
B. Being asked by someone you know
6. Which of the following is most likely to cause you to invest in a nonprofit?
A. A nonprofit that you identify with, but are not sure they are delivering valuable
results
B. A nonprofit that you do not identify with, but are confident they are delivering
valuable results

56. Summarizing Your Attributes
1. What channel(s) do you
believe to be most effective? (#1)
87% when asked in person
2. What situation(s)? (#2)
85% when know the person asking
3. What medium(s)? (#3)
61% when not in person, a hand-written note

57. Which of the following is most likely
to cause you to invest $25 in
a nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify 55%
B. Being asked by someone you know 38%

58. Which of the following is most likely
to cause you to invest $500 in
a nonprofit?
A. A cause with which you identify 64%
B. Being asked by someone you know 27%

59. Which of the following is most likely to
cause you to invest in a nonprofit?
A. A nonprofit that you identify with, but
are not sure they are delivering valuable
results 25%
B. A nonprofit that you do not identify with,
but are confident they are delivering
valuable results 73%

60. Bottom Line
1. Cause trumps personal channel,
even more so as amounts
goes up
2. Results trump cause

61. Which is why the One Sentence
Introduction of Asking Rights is this:

62. Takeaways
 Outcomes are correlated to funding
 There are alternatives to the old fallback
of emotional appeals and volunteer asks
 Don’t be afraid of rational motivations
 The right ingredients, combined into
the right recipe, make for a highly
sustainable organization

63. Things to Remember If
Nothing Else:
 Not everyone has Asking Rights.
They are earned, not given just because you are a nonprofit.
 Everyone is capable of developing Asking Rights.
It just takes effort and an organization-wide commitment.
 There is more to Asking Rights than just asking for money.
Even though the IRS says you can ask people for money, it does not
mean you will be successful at it.

64. Things to Remember If
Nothing Else:
 Those that have Asking Rights make their value obvious.
These organizations stand apart from the ones that don’t and will have a
smoother road to sustainable funding.
 It’s more about the right outcomes being valued than how the
value is determined.
It’s not how good your aim is, but whether you are aiming at the right
targets.
 An investor’s motivations are different than a donor’s.
Ignore this at your own peril.

65. Learn more about
Asking Rights
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66. Thank You!
www.ConvergentNonprofit.com
TRalser@ConvergentNonprofit.com
(800) 886-0280