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Richard C. Peck Consulting, LLC & The Philanthropy Guy, LLC


Providing consulting and educational services to nonprofits, donors, and professional advisors related to impactful charitable giving

CONTACT RICK

Charitable Giving Newsletter

05/31/24


In This Week's Issue:


The Science of the Ask


Weekly Tips for Nonprofits, Donors, and Professional Advisors

The Science of the Ask

So, you have heard of buyer's regret? It's the pit in your stomach that tells you that you probably made a purchasing error.


What about fundraiser's regret? That's when you walk away from a conversation after making an "Ask" (usually an important and timely request for a substantive amount of money in service to the strategic work of the organization). You realize you asked for WAY more money than this person was able or willing to give, and it is awkward and embarrassing. Or worse, you did not ask for enough money from the person you were talking to, which can also be awkward and embarrassing: it was too easy for he or she to make the gift---and now that individual might be questioning if your organization is not ambitious enough to reach its goals!


Enter Abacus, the Major Donor Ask Calculator. It is a web-based tool created by Larry Raff (read more about him later down the page) that dramatically improves the methodology and reliability of determining how much to ask a donor regarding a major gift. It provides fundraisers with a structured way to determine an "Ask" amount that is aspirational yet respectful to donors.


Abacus picks up where donor philanthropic capacity ratings and other donor research leave off. It uses objective data about the donor and their relationship to the nonprofit to arrive at an aspirational (yet respectful) three-year Pledge Ask amount that is bias-free---so you as a major gift officer can Ask with confidence and maximize pledges.


There is research behind Abacus! Larry has been a consultant for over 20 years and offered countless training sessions with fundraising/development/advancement officers. Larry learned that less than five orgs use a formal or even semi-formal process to determine an Ask amount! Simply put, most fundraisers rely on gut feel and instinct to determine an ask amount, and often they end up with a tummy ache.

 

So, fifteen years ago, as a nonprofit consultant and former advancement executive, Larry started doing deep research on Asks to find a solution to the "gut" problem. That deep dive revealed the profound influence of personal bias regarding money and institutional self-esteem. Larry gave more than 400 advancement officers two case studies with a small and large donor using the same 21 empirical and behavioral data points for each. The officers were instructed to arrive at an Ask amount for each scenario. Using identical information, the officers’ responses ranged widely, from $15,000 to $250,000 for the small donor and from $50,000 to $3 million for the large donor!


The Abacus algorithm started there. It has been used by Larry's firm (Copley Raff) for several years and has been refined into Abacus, which was launched in September 2023.


Using data from Abacus profiles and resulting pledges, the Abacus goal (what to reasonably expect from the ask) is within 2% of actual pledges. The low end of traditional philanthropic capacity estimates that are used with Abacus are 300% above actual pledges!


Any advancement officer or office that has a major donor program or is thinking about a campaign or are in a campaign can benefit from Abacus. As Larry states it, the cost of an annual subscription can be re-captured with one gift that would otherwise have been left on the table because of a timid or biased ask. Make a more informed Ask, and read Larry's bio below:

Larry Raff

Larry is President of Copley Raff Inc., a global consultancy to nonprofits in support

of fundraising and management, and he has a distinguished 40-year career in advancement. Since 2011, he has authored the GivingTake blog with an international following. Larry co-created the Master Gift Officer (TM) four-day immersion event and approach to

training gift officers. He is also the Principal and Creator of Abacus (TM) Major Donor Ask Calculator LLC. (www.donorabacus.com). Larry was a driving force in creating the Oregon Food Bank, the nation’s first statewide food bank network, wrote the first book on food banking, and directed the nation’s first state-wide study of hunger factors. He founded and is a trustee of the

Autoimmune Disease Research Foundation and served as President and CEO of the Legacy Emanuel Medical Center Foundation in Portland, OR, and as Chair of the Friday Forum in Boston. Read more about Larry and his very impressive career in the grey link below:

Larry G. Raff, MPH - Copley Raff

A Tip for Nonprofits: Do you have any donors who are inventors, scientists, or artists? They may be receiving royalties, which could be donated to your org! These payments may be in the form of nonrenewable resource royalties, patent royalties, trademark royalties, franchises, copyrighted materials, book publishing royalties, music royalties, and art royalties. Even well-known fashion designers can charge royalties to other companies for using their names and designs. Read more here: What Is a Royalty? How Payments Work and Types of Royalties (investopedia.com)

A Tip for Donors: GuideStar by Candid gives a pretty good snapshot of the nonprofits you are interested in. Just type in the name of the nonprofit and read everything from mission to program, board to financials, and much more. There are 1.8 million nonprofits out there, so you better get started now. You have a lot of reading to do. Click here: Nonprofit data for donors, grantmakers, and businesses | GuideStar | Candid

A Tip for Professional Advisors: Trying to be better at having a substantive philanthropic conversation with your most valued clients and their families? Well, sign up here for a five-hour virtual session (held over two days) in June to get up-to-speed on the things you need to know to have that substantive discussion. Your clients want it! The link is here: Advisors in Philanthropy

“To ease another's heartache is to forget one's own.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Richard C. Peck Consulting, LLC and The Philanthropy Guy, LLC

About Rick

228 Park View Drive

Belmont, NC 28012

+1 (603) 387-3897

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