I just went through the hideous experience of buying a new car. Nothing short of mine becoming unsafe to drive could have gotten me back into a car showroom. But with warning lights coming on constantly, the brake system continuing to be problematic after much work (and money), and a strange grinding beneath my feet, I felt my luck might soon run out and I’d find myself wrapped around a pole.
Those of us in the fundraising world know we’re not in sales, yet everyone outside our world seems to think that’s what we’re about, to our detriment. It only took one visit to a car showroom to underscore the difference. . . and to make me wonder how anyone could possibly think these two worlds were even remotely aligned.
Be sure to watch my brief video below, “Think Relational”, to learn more about how to build your relationships with donors, instead of thinking about fundraising as a transactional process.
The first sign that the car salesman and I saw the world differently was all his talk about repeat customers. The more he talked about them the less I believed they had them. It made me think about outcomes measurements. He certainly wasn’t going to convince me without data, which, by the way, he didn’t have. Can you imagine in our business trying to convince people to contribute to our cause because we have a track record of repeat business – donors who continue to give year after year?
The second sign was the negotiation. I can’t imagine my main goal being to make the process as opaque as possible so my donor has no understanding why the price on the table makes sense. The price on the table was simply the most gouging price he could offer up, a price paid by those who abhor negotiation or are easily flattered – or can’t add. 
The third sign was no real desire to get to know me. Why do that when you’ll never see me again after I buy a car or walk out and buy elsewhere? In lieu of getting to know me, my salesman was simply looking for my weak spot. How could he wear me down? What would it take to get this one yes, even if I’d never buy as much as a cup of coffee from him again?
I walked out of there with a car, but also thinking I probably got snookered again. It didn’t make me feel particularly good, though at least I had my new car which I’m enjoying driving. If one of my donors ever walked out of a meeting feeling like I did, I certainly wouldn’t have done my job.
So the next time anyone dares to mention “sales” and “fundraising” in one sentence, tell them I’ve got an amazing used car to sell them that runs like a dream.
