Wow, that’s amazing! It exceeded my expectations by a factor of around 5.
I don’t have much to show for my own fundraiser, given that I haven’t sent any emails at all yet. I’m really shy about asking people for things. Do you think that future fundraising projects could benefit from some one-on-one time between novice and experienced fundraisers to make sure that people are doing it right? (And not just setting up a fundraiser and letting it gather dust like I did).
Also, do you think people would grow weary if they get these fundraising emails year after year, or from multiple people in their extended network? I really don’t want to put people off by being too pushy, and I’m curious whether this is a card you can only play once.
Hey Giles, I think there’s a strong bias towards overestimating and being over-worried about pushiness. This is what you’d expect given that humans have evolved to have hyperactive social threat detectors. I don’t think that people would regard asking once a year as objectionable—a year is a long time, and giving every year (e.g. every holiday season) is a widely recognised practice. And this worry doesn’t even apply when it comes to sending out emails for your first fundraiser—it doesn’t make sense to let worries about using up ‘asks’ stop your from making even your first ask!
Wow, that’s amazing! It exceeded my expectations by a factor of around 5.
I don’t have much to show for my own fundraiser, given that I haven’t sent any emails at all yet. I’m really shy about asking people for things. Do you think that future fundraising projects could benefit from some one-on-one time between novice and experienced fundraisers to make sure that people are doing it right? (And not just setting up a fundraiser and letting it gather dust like I did).
Also, do you think people would grow weary if they get these fundraising emails year after year, or from multiple people in their extended network? I really don’t want to put people off by being too pushy, and I’m curious whether this is a card you can only play once.
Remember that people genuinely want to help you and will be excited by this opportunity to do good.
I’d be happy to personally talk to you about your fundraiser! :)
Hey Giles, I think there’s a strong bias towards overestimating and being over-worried about pushiness. This is what you’d expect given that humans have evolved to have hyperactive social threat detectors. I don’t think that people would regard asking once a year as objectionable—a year is a long time, and giving every year (e.g. every holiday season) is a widely recognised practice. And this worry doesn’t even apply when it comes to sending out emails for your first fundraiser—it doesn’t make sense to let worries about using up ‘asks’ stop your from making even your first ask!