Legend has it that the late Henry Ford was confronted one day by his longtime golfing partner. His partner said, "Henry I've been playing golf and talking business with you for the last five years. Why haven't you ever given me a chance to manage the company's insurance program?" To which Mr. Ford replied, "Because you never asked." In business, asking a customer for their business is essential. You need to know how and when to be direct. The same closing techniques are used for a major gift request as selling insurance. The asker must clearly elicit an answer to his or her specific request. Next, let's look at three closing techniques. People generally like to say no to requests for almost anything. A child asks, "mom, will you extend my curfew an hour?" Mom, "No." Wife, "Honey let's start exercising by walking three miles together." Husband's response, "No thanks." Or in business, "Boss, how about a raise? Boss, "You're kidding right?" We have become programmed to say no to telephone solicitations, street vendors, and door to door salespeople. You can design a question so that the word NO becomes a YES to your request. It's not a trick but combining a clarifying question with your close, here's how it works, "Clifford, we have used enough of your time, we have described why we think our institution needs and deserves your support and in the process we have answered some objections you have raised. Can you think of any reason why you shouldn't honor our request for a major gift in the range of $75,000?" When I ask this way, the prospect can only respond in one of two ways. He can say, no I can't, which means yes to the request or yes I can. Then he proceeds to bring up an objection that was hidden, giving you the opportunity to deal with it. When the response is, "Yes, I can think of a reason why I shouldn't give." Answer the objective by using the earlier techniques for dealing with objections then restate your request like this, "Now Clifford, is there any reason why you can't see your way clear to making this gift?" By using the no/yes close, you allow your prospect to say no but when he does, he ends up responding affirmatively to your request. Use the investment close with prospects who are stringing you along. Someone with whom you have met several times who keeps asking for more information and more time to make a decision. When your instincts tell you that the prospect is putting you off and hasn't got the nerve to tell you no, use the investment close. It adds pressure and reminds the prospect that your major gift campaign is serious business. In a polite but firm way, you're telling the prospect, it's now or never. No more coming back, no more long winded philosophical discussions. For example you may say, "Clifford, we have invested considerable time and resources in this campaign over our four meetings. We do have a deadline for completing this campaign, December of this year and it's now October. Our best estimate is that we have sufficient cash flow which will allow us to break ground on the museum's new exhibit hall by next February. As a businessman, I know that you understand our urgency to begin construction before interest rates go back up. Can we count on you today for your gift of $75,000 or more?" This conveys to the prospect that you will no longer let him stall or put you off without a definitive answer. You also provided a sound business reason as to why the need for an answer is now. You risk getting a no but you also make it clear that you are going to move on to other prospects to keep your campaign on track. You can always return to this prospect later but for now you have stopped wasting your time and kept the campaign on schedule. The ego closes the oldest one in fundraising and it goes like this, "Clifford you are one of the most influential people in our community. What you do causes other people to follow your example. The museum's campaign for a new exhibit hall stands to attract many of your friends and colleagues once you have made your gift. Can we count on you to contribute in the range of $75,000?" Use the ego close selectively. If your prospect is not a Mr. or Mrs. Big of the community, it will backfire. However, appealing to a person's ego is important and expected in major gift campaigns. People like to be flattered, especially when they know that they are truly powerful and influential. Here I offer a tactic that may enable you to double the amount of money you have just obtained. Once a person agrees to a major gift, don't miss the best opportunity you have to get another one of equal size. This is a bold step in the major gift solicitation process, it must be handled with finesse and it's only used after the prospect has enthusiastically agreed to a major gift. Here's how it works. You may say, "Clifford, your commitment to give $75,000 to the museum campaign is very generous and much appreciated. However, how about doubling it?" Now pause for effect. Then very quickly interject that you don't mean for Clifford to raise his own gift to $150,000, but rather help the campaign by agreeing to solicit the $75,000 gift from one of the prospects on your list he already knows. If he agrees and is successful, then he has doubled his contribution to the museum. There is no better time to sign up your donor as a major gift solicitor than right after he has contributed his or her own gift. Discipline yourself, your staff, and your volunteers to use double-it tactic, it provides you with more gifts and expand a team of solicitors. Most of us become uncomfortable when objections are raised. Remembering that an objection is not an attack but a question can diminish such discomfort. View objections as questions then help the prospect see their investment as overcoming the cause of that particular objection. This can convert objections into reasons for giving. When answering the objection always show understanding of your prospect's position. Try to gain your prospect's respect by making statements such as, I see your point or I can understand why you would have that concern. Turn your objection into a positive statements such as, "our CEO shares your feelings about this problem. She has talked to the board about it and the board has come up with several ideas to overcome this problem." Do not enlarge the objection or let it lead into an argument. Always respond with facts and never make excuses. However, if the objection is weak, pass over it and move on. It is legitimate to compromise on minor objections if they will not hinder reaching your primary goal. Mainly, let the prospect know his or her objection is acceptable that others feel similarly and that such questions have helped us find constructive solutions to other problems. You may even turn the objection into the reason the prospect should support your organization. To supplement these principles, I provided a detailed list of possible objections, reasons donors say no and options for handling these in your handout. Use the three Fs formula to deal with objections, that being I feel, I found and I felt. It goes like this, "Clifford, I feel the same way you do about keeping our fundraising costs down. In fact, I found myself asking the same questions two years ago while reading the annual report and financial statements. Like you, I felt it was important to take some action and I did." This formula is a powerful relationship builder. It makes it clear that you are listening and responding with great empathy. Use these five steps to handle objections. Step one, acknowledge objections as they arise. Overlooking objection conveys that you are not concerned about the prospect's feelings and can lay the groundwork for a decline to your major gift request. Step two, don't debate with the prospect. Arguing creates a negative atmosphere and pits the prospect against you. Instead, provide new facts to educate the prospect and answer the objection. Most people are willing to change their position provided they are given facts that allow them to do so. For example, if a prospect says, "this State University doesn't need to be raising private funds, the state provides more than enough funds to run the university from my state tax dollars. So why is the university trying to raise $10 million?" You could respond, "Actually less than 10 percent of the state university budget is provided by the state. That shocked me to Mr. Smith. The majority of our funding comes in the form of federal grants, auxiliary services, tuition, and financial aid. The balance of the budget comes from private contributions, private funds enable us to upgrade quality at all levels." Step three, correcting erroneous information is the fastest way to defuse an objection. For example, if a prospect says, "I know your fundraising expenses are running at 25 percent." You would counter, "Well, that was true two years ago but as our new audited financial statements point out, they are now running 15 percent and our goal is to reduce them to 12 percent next year." Step four, once the objection has been satisfied, return to the subject of the prospect's gift. There are many detours on the road to the prospect's heart, resist the detours and stay on track. For example, "as I was saying, private support is the key to maintaining and providing quality. I know you share my concern for quality as it is widely known that your company is quality-driven." Step five, maintain a common ground with the prospect. Stress the things you have in common not those things you differ on. The example of how much you are spending to raise funds could be strengthened by saying, "I am in total agreement with you on keeping our costs down." Also, maintain a common ground on the areas of mutual interest, such as quality or excellence, keeping costs down, value, outstanding teachers or doctors or museum pieces. The common ground issue should come from information you picked up about the prospect at earlier meetings. Previous careful listening allows you to bring these back into the conversation.
