Make the Ask

Horace Fralin was a successful real-estate developer, entrepreneur, and business owner. A respected member of Roanoke College’s board of trustees, he had a quiet demeanor, and when he talked, people listened.

Shortly after I was promoted to Vice President for Development at Roanoke, we engaged in a comprehensive campaign, and it came time for someone to ask Mr. Fralin for his campaign pledge. Though I barely knew him, in my new role as VP that “someone” was me.

I had asked plenty of people for gifts in my years of fundraising, but this was my first as VP, and I felt ill prepared. Even though I had visited Mr. Fralin many times before and was coming with our campaign materials in hand and a letter requesting his gift, I felt intimidated to ask him for a $50,000 pledge—which would be a considerable increase in his giving.

I had not prepared a pitch or considered how I would handle objections or questions he might raise, and as I drove to the appointment, my thoughts spiraled downward: “I’m not equipped to be VP. I have no idea what I’m doing. I need to rethink my whole career.” I actually thought about finding a pay phone and postponing the appointment. Thankfully, this was before cell phones; otherwise, I might have made that call.

I arrived barely on time, and Mr. Fralin greeted me and took me straight into his office. After less than a minute of small talk, he asked the purpose of my visit. My mouth went dry as I handed him my materials and asked if he would consider a pledge of $50,000 to the campaign.

He said that yes, he would consider our request and thanked me. We shook hands and I left. That was it. No warm-up, no pitch, no explanation of the importance of the campaign, nothing about how much we appreciated his leadership, no agreed-upon next step.

“I’m a complete screw-up,” I thought as I climbed back into my car. But shockingly, Mr. Fralin let us know the next week that he would make the requested pledge.

In the years that followed, I learned how to be much better prepared for soliciting gifts. I also learned the value of accompanying our president or a board member when asking for major gifts. But the most valuable lesson I took away from that experience was this: A bad ask is better than no ask.  So make the ask.

by Benjamin Case