group of his grassroots guys test-market a “No”-oriented
script.
FUND-RAISER: Hello, can I speak with Mr. Smith?
MR. SMITH: Yes, this is he.
FUND-RAISER: I’m calling from the XYZ Committee,
and I wanted to ask you a few important questions
about your views on our economy today. Do you
feel that if things stay the way they are, America’s
best days are ahead of it?
MR. SMITH: No, things will only get worse.
FUND-RAISER: Are you going to sit and watch
President Obama take the White House in November
without putting up a fight?
MR. SMITH: No, I’m going to do anything I can to
make sure that doesn’t happen.
FUND-RAISER: If you want do something today to
make sure that doesn’t happen, you can give to XYZ
Committee, which is working hard to fight for you.See how clearly that swaps “Yes” for “No” and offers to
take a donation if Mr. Smith wants? It puts Mr. Smith in the
driver’s seat; he’s in charge. And it works! In a truly
remarkable turnaround, the “No”-oriented script got a 23
percent better rate of return.
The only sad part of Ben’s tale is that despite the huge
improvement in results, he couldn’t roll out the script to all
his fund-raisers. It went against fund-raising orthodoxy, and
longtime fund-raisers like the fake comfort of the “Yes.”