A Fundraiser’s Secret Weapon: Your Radar
Last week’s post on the “Fundraiser’s Kiss of Death – Talking Too Much” generated lots of interesting comments.
My readers all enjoyed the story of the donor visit that went sour.
Your Radar is Your Best Fundraising Tool!
But here’s the funny thing:
Why was I consistently able to develop terrific relationships with my major prospects – even when others failed?
There was a very specific reason that I was successful (besides knowing when to shut up!)
I used my radar. And I knew when to get out the door.
Here’s another true story:
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I was in New York City, sitting in a lobby in a huge skyscraper.
And I was waiting for my biggest donor prospect of all – a very wealthy hedge fund guru.
As I prepared for the visit, I knew that above all, I wanted to keep and sustain his interest.
And that could be tough. Because . . .
I knew this prospect had a very short attention span.
In fact, it was just about 13 ½ minutes.
And that was on a good day!
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(Do YOU have a donor with a very short attention span? Bet you do!)
So my goal, when I came to visit him, was to get out of his office before he was bored and distracted.
I wanted to stay exactly as long as I could have his attention, and not one moment longer.
(You see, if I overstayed my welcome, it might not be able to get another appointment with him. Then all would be lost!)
So I had to employ my secret tool: my RADAR.
When I visited with him, my radar would go round and round, over and over.
I was watching for signals that would tell me the level of his attention.
I had to watch carefully for signs that told me:
- How interested was he in our visit?
- How interested was he in my cause?
- Was I engaging him or was I boring him?
- When did I need to make a quick exit?
Here was my checklist for what I was looking for:
A donor's body language can tell you alot.
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Body language:
He was open, attentive and interested. Thank god his arms weren’t crossed – good sign.
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Eyes:
He was looking at me with interest, at least for the first 8 minutes. Then his eyes darted around and I could tell something else had crossed his mind.
I shifted in my seat, wondering if I should leave now.
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Fidgeting:
He nervously fidgeted with something on his desk. He must have been worked up about something but it wasn’t interfering with our conversation.
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Tone of voice:
Sounded good. Seemed to be in a fairly good humor. I knew he had a bit of a volatile reputation so I was particularly watching for that!
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Smiling:
Yes, thank goodness he was in a positive mindset. I knew better than to visit when he was upset.
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His questions and comments:
These were the most important piece of information of all.
They were telling me what was on his mind — where he stood and what he was thinking about our project.
Totally invaluable. I noted what he asked about to record in my call report.
Then suddenly things changed.
All of a sudden his assistant popped her head in with some silent communication to him. Everything shifted.
He clearly moved on to something else that was more urgent and important.
Suddenly I was old news.
I stood up, smiled and got out the door. I thanked my trusty radar for helping me once again.
Don’t ever forget your secret tool.
Your radar won’t fail you if you focus carefully on your prospect. Then you can have the best visit ever.
How do you use your own radar?
Leave a comment and share it with us all –
Gail, what are talking about today is intangible and unteachable in a real sense. When I talk about it, I call it intuition. in addition to listening to the donor/prospect for clues, I rely so much upon intuition – or radar – to direct my decisions on the spot. And it is usually spot on. So, thanks for this great tip. It is not easy but a great barometer, so figuring out how to cultivate one’s own intuition and then rely upon it is key.
I would have thought things started to change when he began to fidgit. That would have been my clue to wrap up.
I think we can cultivate intuition and paying attention to gut instinct – sometimes we call it emotional intelligence. It’s a central part of preparation and would be a good tip for solicitors to incorporate in a call plan. I believe we can learn this and actually it was an important area of study for my post grad leadership studies. It’s like planned listening. Thanks for the reminder Gail.
You can use this on a phone call, too. You can’t use body language, obviously, but listen for changes in tone of voice, or when the response is slow.
Hi Helen, you’re exactly correct. All these intangibles are the essence of communication – and they tell you lots more than words, don’t they. I like the idea of calling it “intuition.”
Yup, his fidgiting was a bit of an alarm, but he calmed back down. Great point!
Yup, you can certainly exercise a bit of a different radar for phone conversations! thx!
Hi Janice, I agree, we simply must teach this skill! Thx!
Another help is to be versed in a communications “style” tool such as DISC, Meyers-Briggs, et. al. You’ll pick up verbal clues and visual clues and can adjust your communication on the fly.
Thanks Gail, great list of cues to look out for! Thanks also for the engaging presentation at UW Houston this week, really enjoyed it and learned a lot. I have already started to put into practice some of your conversation techniques with staff, and its working with them, too!
thanks so much for this spot-on synthesis of all the signals to look for. In terms of telephone calls, I always stand up if I’m doing a strong ask pitch to a prospective or existing donor. It’s an old trick I picked up during a brief stint in cold telesales (boy was that a good school of hard knocks ;) It just means you are literally thinking on your feet and keeps you on your toes!
Hi Vera- what a terrific idea – on the phone, stand up! I also learned to SMILE into the phone cause it made you come across more personally. thanks!
Thanks Molly – loved working with you all in Houston last week! Keep me posted!
Jay – ah, yes – the verbal clues and visual clues! There should be a course somewhere in fundraising 101 so we can study these!
Such a fabulous post Gail! And when it comes to “inner radar,” I do believe we women hold the edge over men :). It’s learning to trust it that can sometimes hold us back. Thanks for sharing.
PS: Love the tip to “stand up” during phone calls too. Another one that works is putting a mirror on your desk – it reminds you to smile (it comes across in your voice).
Great post. Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a phenomenal tool for honing your radar. A lot of this stuff can be taught, and NLP is a great way to do it.