Respect Your Work

Remember, especially when it feels hard, that you are doing inspired and important work. There are times when we unintentionally minimize our purpose with donors.

Here's a common example. 

The most frequently used request for an appointment is “I’m going to be in your area and I’d like to stop by and ...”  

It is easy to take that route, but framing your visit like this implies that it isn’t important and, even worse, suggests that the person you want to visit isn’t very important either. Plus, too often this very soft statement allows for the prospect to say something like: “Why don’t you contact me when you are in the area and I’ll see if I’m available.” Once you've gone down that road it's very difficult to go back and it's extremely difficult for trip planning. 

You need to know enough about the person you are contacting to offer a reason for wanting to meet them. The more specific the reason the more likely you are to secure the appointment. 

Here are a few possibilities instead. 

• I’d like to visit you to discuss …
• Would you be willing to have a conversation about …
• I understand we have 30 minutes together and in that time I’d like to share … (even though you are going to listen more than you will talk)
• You mentioned that ... is important to you. I’d like to meet with you to learn about that in more detail.
• In order to make our time together next Wednesday at 11:00 as effective as possible, would you be kind enough to think about ... in advance. 
• When we meet next week I’d like to be certain we touch on ...

Do not belittle your work, your purpose is important. 

In the upcoming Guided Learning Course, The Donor Visit, we will be spending way more time on this topic. Coming soon.