Two Points for the Shy and Introverted: Proof We Are Great Fundraisers

by Brian Saber

Yes, I’m Shy and Introverted

No one believes it when I say that I am shy or introverted. They see me socializing, are aware of my track record in fundraising, and assume that means I’m outgoing and extroverted. And part of that assumption comes from the negative connotations people have of the shy and introverted.

On the Asking Matters Asking Style Assessment, I am clearly a Kindred Spirit, one of the two introverted Asking Styles. Everyone thinks I will be a Rainmaker or Go-Getter, the two extroverted styles.

Now a great article by Susan Cain in The New York Times Sunday Review (Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic, June 26, 2011) highlights important research that sheds important light on this subject and gives those of us who are shy and/or introverted our due. Ms. Cain notes that shyness and introversion share an undervalued status in a world that prizes extroversion…”As a society, we prefer action to contemplation, risk-taking to heed-taking, certainty to doubt. Studies show that we rank fast and frequent talkers as more competent, likable and even smarter than slow ones.”

But interestingly, as she points out, shy and introverted people have been important leaders in our world and, in fact, if shyness and introversion were such detriments, wouldn’t we be extinct by now? So the shy and extroverted of the world must have some great survival techniques!

My Sitter-like Temperament Makes Me a Great Fundraiser

Well that technique comes from the “sitter-like temperament” which is associated with a predisposition to shyness and introversion. Researchers credit those with sitter-like temperaments as “careful and astute…tend to learn by observing instead of by acting.” They “digest information thoroughly,” “stay on task” and, most important to fundraising, have “a willingness to listen and implement other people’s ideas.”

Bingo! What is the number one rule in fundraising? Listen. Listen to your donors. Get to know them. Get to understand what they want and need. We shy or introverted fundraisers are GREAT at that! So we learn lots more about them than our more extroverted “rover” counterparts.

Let’s not forget the cardinal rule. Once you say “would you consider a gift of $X to ABC Organization,” you are supposed to stop talking and wait for a response. We sitters can do that well. We’re used to listening and waiting for a response.

So, fellow Kindred Spirits and our introverted partners, Mission Controllers, take heart and have renewed confidence that we “sitters” are naturally great fundraisers!

To read Susan Cain’s entire article, click here: Shyness: Evolutionary Tactic