Are You Talking to Me? What Am I Supposed to Do - Or Not Do?
If you find yourself asking your nonprofit’s supporters to . . .
- Help
- Support
- Participate
- Engage
- Believe
- Understand
- Be proactive
- Work with you
- Collaborate
- Buy in
- Promote
- Share
- Educate
- Network
- Connect
- Partner
. . . don’t be shocked when nothing happens.
Get five people in a room and ask them to physically do any of these calls to action and you’ll see five people doing five different things (or staring off into space, which is just as bad).
If you want people to do something, you have to be clear and specific about what that thing is and how they should do it. Dan Heath and Chip Heath call this “shaping the path” in their book Switch. Katya Andresen calls it the filmable moment.
On Thursday, April 28, 2011, I’m teaching a new webinar called Making the Ask: Getting People to Give, Volunteer and More. We’ll not only look at ways to make your asks more clear and specific, but also how to take complicated asks and simplify them for your supporters, so they know where to begin and what to do next. We’ll also talk about ways to get over some of the common fears about asking directly (e.g. it’s rude or pushy), which are leading you astray toward the wishy-washy calls to action listed above.
Join us for the “Making the Ask” webinar!
