9 Steps to Making a Hard Ask

Every campaign runs on asks, for donations, for volunteer hours, for event hosts willing to open their homes. This microlearning breaks the hardest ask of all, fundraising, into 9 clear steps so you always know what to say next.

• Greeting: make a connection

• Establish credibility and viability

• Engage authentically

• Listen actively

• Make the ask

• Stop talking and wait

• Negotiate, if needed

• Close the deal

• Thank you and follow up

You'll learn how to open with a genuine connection, establish your candidate's credibility and viability, listen actively, and deliver a specific, time-bound ask with confidence. From there, walk through negotiating a lower amount, closing the contribution, and following up the right way. Real example dialogue shows each step in action, so you can adapt the language to your own calls.

Finish in about ten minutes, then put it into practice with the linked prep sheet and role-play scenarios.