The Art Of Asking

• Gene R. Wurth– Executive Director– American Dental Association

Foundation

• Dental Philanthropy Network– July 16, 2012– Chicago, Illinois

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The Art Of Asking

Crucial Questions for Organizational Improvement

• Alternative Titles1. Playing 20 Questions for Fun and Profit2. Inquiring Minds Want to Know3. There’s No Such Thing as a Dumb

Question4. (Well, maybe there is a dumb question)5. (Your Suggestion Goes Here)

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The Art Of Asking

Crucial Questions for Organizational Improvement

• Alternative Titles1. Playing 20 Questions for Fun and Profit2. Inquiring Minds Want to Know3. There’s No Such Thing as a Dumb

Question4. Dude, Where’s My Car?5. (Your Suggestion Goes Here)

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The Art Of Asking

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• Goals for the day:– Examining our work – Tools– Tips– Challenges– Toolboxes– Case studies– Takeaways

The Art Of Asking

• Our Group Profile

– Your Portfolio of Work – (plug in your numbers)

– % of time spent on each – MAY total more than 100%!!

• Membership ____%• Events ____%• Communications ____%• Fund Raising ____%• Board – care and feeding ____%• Other ____%

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The Art Of Asking

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• What are some of the challenges that come from those data?

• There are many challenges in all areas, and each can be analyzed using these tools, but let’s focus on fund raising today.

• The others can be topics for later presentations

The Art Of Asking

• What Does it Mean to “Make The Ask?”(Pease add your thoughts after each question for our discussion…)

– When someone talks about “Making the Ask” what do you think they are talking about?

– What is the biggest ask you have made?

– Is “Making the Ask” hard to do?

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The Art Of Asking–What Makes It Hard?

• Not knowing the answer you will get?

• Not knowing enough about the prospect or his/her desires?

• Not knowing how you will handle rejection?

• Not knowing the answers to all of the tough questions you might get in return?

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The Art Of Asking

•What Else?

– Not believing in your mission?

– Not being able to say that your board fully supports your project?

– Not having answers to the hard financial questions you may get?

– Not having data to explain why your request should be considered?

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The Art Of Asking

• Valuable Tools

– There are many tools at your disposal• Handbooks• Software• Conferences• Share Groups• Others

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The Art Of Asking

The most valuable tool in your portfolio is…

?.The answer opens all doors to your success

It is like a Swiss Army Knife – lots of helpful tools within a tool

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The Art Of Asking

The most valuable tool in your portfolio is ?.

?.The answer opens all doors to your success

It is like a Swiss Army Knife – lots of helpful tools within a tool

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This is it…

The Art Of Asking

• Key elements – The Basics…

– Who– What– What if…– When – How– How Much– How Often– Why – Other Questions?

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The Art Of Asking

• WHO?–Who is your donor audience?–Who is on your board?–Who are your volunteers?–Who benefits from your work?–Who needs to know about it?» constituencies» regulatory authorities» the media» the general public

–Who can we work with to leverage our assets (potential partners)?

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• WHAT?–What is your purpose?

–What can you do that no other organization can do, or do as well?

–What results can you demonstrate?

–What harm is done if you don’t do this work?

–What is the best method to share information?

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• WHAT IF…?– You run out of funds?– You suddenly get $1 million?– Your Board can’t agree on your mission?– Your volunteers don’t do the work?– Your staff is confused about their role and

purpose?– Some other organization is stealing your

thunder - and your donors?

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The Art Of Asking

• WHEN?– Should we get the money?– Should we start soliciting?– Should we start forming committees?– Should we start identifying

volunteers?– Should we start identifying prospects?– Should we file state registrations?– Should we report to our donors?

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• HOW?– Do we present our case to individuals?– Do we present our case to the public?– Do we structure our campaign?

• HOW MUCH?– Do we need?– Is the right amount for the donor?

• HOW OFTEN?– For annual funds?– For major gifts?

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• WHY? – Perhaps the most important question of all!!

WHY?

– Why do we do what we do?– Why should a prospect want to make a gift?– Why should our volunteers want to work on

this?

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• If your volunteer thinks he/she is ready to ask for a gift, ask him/her this question…

• “If you go to your very best friend in the world and ask for $1,000 right now, what would the prospect say to you?”

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Why?• How would you respond?

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• More globally…Why do people give?

• Survey says…

– Of the 20 or so reasons people give, the most important is either…

– Someone they know and respect asked them, or

– Belief in the mission of the organization.

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• What about tax benefits or donor recognition?

–Down on the list – tax benefit is often near the bottom.

–What does that tell us about how we should frame our ask?

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• Why all of the emphasis on questions?

– Tip 1 - Learn from the lawyers

• In a trial, never ask a question for which you don’t already have the answer

• In our world, never let someone ask you a question for which you don’t have an answer.

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The Art Of Asking– Tip 2 - Ask a LOT… and ask OFTEN• Be inquisitive… be childlike

• According to “The Ultimate Book of Useless Information:

– “A four-year-old child asks an average of

437 questions a day.”

- Tell your Board chair you are going to act like a four-year-old – see if you get a raise!

–Make your work like child’s play!GROW 360/NPO

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– Tip 2 - Ask a LOT… and ask OFTEN

• Take all of these examples, and then think of more questions to ask that are specific to your situation

• Try to think of questions that no one else would think of

• Ask questions that you suspect the prospect / volunteer/ board member / staff member would ask

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The Art Of Asking

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• Tip 3 - Have Someone Else Ask the Questions

• As staff, you may not have the status or credibility to ask tough questions to board members, prospects, etc.

• Find someone they respect or take seriously.

• Ask them to ask the questions you want to ask!

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• Now that we have identified the tools, let’s put them to work to meet some challenges…

• Challenge 1 – Define Your Needs–What is your organization’s greatest

need?– (Try to answer in 25 words or less)

– And the answer is………

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None of the Above!

> Organizations don’t have needs…> People have needs. > Organizations can provide solutions to people’s needs!

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• So… when you have to answer WHY ,think of what your organization does

to address people’s needs

• Give some examples now ____________

• Ask your staff and volunteers to provide answers

• Make sure your board can provide answers

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• If you can’t provide answers, it is hard to prepare a Case for Support.

• How many of you have a clear Case for Support now?

• How many of your Board members can present it?

• How do you prepare one?

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• Challenge 2 – Your Case for Support

– What is the Case for Support?– What should it look like?– How do you create one?

– The Critical Question to ask in Preparing a Case for Support is……

_____________________________________(fill in the blank)

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– The Critical Question to ask in Preparing a Case for Support is……

A question in two parts…

If we don’t do _____, who will suffer and why?

Can you give examples?

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OREF: Our mission is to support the research – and the researchers – that will advance orthopaedic medicine in the years ahead.

Case for Support: If we don’t provide the funds to identify and encourage promising young researchers now, orthopaedic surgeons will suffer for lack of better techniques, and patients will suffer from not getting the best care.

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– So…• you have asked a lot of questions, • you have drafted a mission statement, and • you have asked key the question to have a Case for Support.

• Now you ask for a gift, and…

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• Challenge 3 – What if the Prospect says NO?

Don’t take it personally!

• A NO is really just a YES to one of four questions… (take a stab at the four questions)

1. Is it ______________?

2. Is it ______________?

3. Is it_______________?

4. Is it ______________?

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• Challenge 3 – What if the Prospect says NO?

• A NO is really just a YES to one of four questions… (take a stab at the four questions)

1. Is it the right amount?

2. Is it ______________?

3. Is it_______________?

4. Is it ______________?

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• Challenge 3 – What if the Prospect says NO?

• A NO is really just a YES to one of four questions… (take a stab at the four questions)

1. Is it the right amount?

2. Is it the right purpose?

3. Is it_______________?

4. Is it ______________?

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• Challenge 3 – What if the Prospect says NO?

• A NO is really just a YES to one of four questions… (take a stab at the four questions)

1. Is it the right amount?

2. Is it the right purpose?

3. Is it the right timing?

4. Is it ______________?

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• Challenge 3 – What if the Prospect says NO?

• A NO is really just a YES to one of four questions… (take a stab at the four questions)

1. Is it the right amount?

2. Is it the right purpose?

3. Is it the right timing?

4. Is it the right method?

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• Find answers to these questions and you can likely change the outcome

• How do you get the answers?

• You guessed it … YOU ASK the prospect! (or have someone ask for you)

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• By now, you are dizzy with questions

• You are asking yourself why you are asking yourself questions

• Tip 4 – Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees. Know when to quit asking.– Try your answers to WHY on others; test

your Case for Support.– If they are sound, move ahead!

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• Some simple tools to help keep on track

• Ways to organize your endless questions

• Try these and then devise your own

• What works best for you is the key

• Each of these could be the focus for a complete program of its own

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• Using Tool Boxes -Tool Box 1 – A View From 30,000 Feet

  Board Volunteers Staff Prospects Public Professional

Association Partners

Industry

Who Should be on Board?

    Are the best ones

     

What Is their role?     Can they give

     

What If… They won’t ask for $

    They say no      

When Do we need new members

    Do we ask      

How Do we recruit them

    Do we contact them

     

How Often Do we meet Do we ask them

How Much Do we want them to give

    Should we ask for

     

Why Would they agree/say no

    Would they agree

     

Why Not Would we not want them

    Would they say NO

     

The Art Of Asking• Using Tool Boxes -Tool Box 2 – Down on the

Ground

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Prospect: Joe Smith Date Started: Question AnswerWhy do we think he will give? 

He told Dr. Jones he wanted to be involved. In our access to care efforts

Who knows the most about him? 

Dr. Jones, and Drs. Davis and Williams

What is his interest in our programs? He has done rural healthcare work in the past

Who would be best to approach him? Dr. Jones

What is his potential? He has a good practice but is not “wealthy”

Is there anything about his family situation that would affect this ask?

Son is also a dentist. Wife is cancer survivor. Daughter is teacher in small town, with four kids of her won.

What does he like best about our program? Ask Drs. Jones et al

What is he unhappy with about our program? Ask Drs. Jones et al. Was once turned down for a research grant, so check on that

When should we start to approach him? 

Once we have answers to all of our questions!

 More Questions… More Answers…

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Now let’s see if we can apply a little of what we have discussed today in real- life situations

Each of these is a factual case, based on my experience

If we have time, let’s discuss some of YOUR case studies

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• Case Study 1 – “I just turned down a half million gift!”

• Case Study 2 – “I’m sorry…I can’t make that $1 million gift I said I would”

• Case Study 3 – “What do you mean they ‘owe it to us?’ ”

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• Let’s recap…

• Takeaways – T3

–Tips–Toolboxes–Techniques

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• Tips

– Tip 1 – Learn from the lawyers

– Tip 2 – Be childlike - Ask a lot…and ask often

– Tip 3 – Have someone else ask

– Tip 4 – Know when to quit asking

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• Toolboxes

– Tool Box 1 – The View From 30,000 Feet

– Tool Box 2 – The View at Ground Level

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–Techniques

• Use questions as:

–Diagnostic tools

–Planning tools

–Discussion tools

–Closure tools

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• Finally, make sure that you, your staff, your board, and your volunteers can answer the crucial question…

WHY?

If you do that well, you may not have to ask for the gift.

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• One final question to ask every day from a personal viewpoint is _____:

• (Go ahead, take a guess what this might be, or suggest your own, personal question to ask every day)

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Are we having fun yet?

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I propose that if you aren’t having fun, or at least feeling good about your work, you won’t be very good at your work.

If you can answer the WHY – can show that you are helping to solve people’s needs… you should be having fun.

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Finally, one last question:

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Finally, one last question:

Wait for it…

The Art Of Asking

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Finally, one last question:

Wait for it…

Admit it, you saw this one coming…

The Art Of Asking

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Finally, one last question:

Wait for it…

Admit it, you saw this one coming…

It is SOOOO obvious…

The Art Of Asking

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Are there any questions?

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Thanks !