Hi, my name is Ayda Sanver and I'm a fundraising consultant. I'm here to make this quick video and give you some fundraising tips today. I wanted to talk about the most asked question from friends and clients about fundraising. The question I get asked the most is, "Ayda, what should I do? I need to raise some money or collect some items for a silent auction for my favorite nonprofit and I'm too shy to ask… and asking scares me." Well, guess what, asking IS scary! It scares all of us. But there are two things I'm going to tell you right at the start before I give you the tips that will hopefully boost your confidence. First, if you don't ask, the answer is always no. Do you understand that? If you don't ask, the answer will always be no. So you have to take that leap of faith and ask. Second, if you ask and the answer is no, no is not fatal! No one has died from hearing the word no! It just means you need to keep going and ask others. So you need to have a much longer list of people and organizations to ask than your goal for success. Keeping these two little ground rules in mind will hopefully help you gain a little confidence. The next tip I'm going to give you is the simplest. You already have the passion. You care about this cause. You care about it so much that you want to make a difference. Now, let that passion speak for itself when you talk to other people! How do you do that? You do that by telling them a story about someone you know, or someone the nonprofit told you was helped by their work—or it could be an animal rescue nonprofit, or a park rescue nonprofit… find a good story. You can usually find these stories on the nonprofit's website, and if not, you can ask them to tell you good stories. So if you can tell a short, good story about the impact that organization had on a person, animal, or group of people, you're already halfway there. Because when you reach out to your friends or potential donors, you can tell that story from the bottom of your heart and say, "I want to tell you a story about this great nonprofit and the work they do. Do you have a minute?" Then you start telling the story… and then you ask the "question." So you already know you have the passion – you just need the words to express it, right? I have more tips like this on my website and a free download. I look forward to your feedback and to talking with you. Like you and everyone else I work with – clients, friends, people I coach – asking is not scary. It takes practice and some knowledge. Thank you for your time, I look forward to your feedback. Visit www.aydasanver.com for a free 30-minute coaching session!

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