Interact first, ask second.

As always, Seth Godin simplies something most would think is obvious with his post, The pandhandler’s secret.

First his story:

“One day, I’m walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and says, “Do you have a dollar for four quarters?” He held out his hand with four quarters in it.

Curious, I engaged with him. I took out a dollar bill and took the four quarters.

Then he turned to me and said, “can you spare a quarter?”

How many panhandlers (or strangers in general) have you walked by when they are just asking for for some change?  Would you be more likely to give someone change and then maybe even through in a tip?

It wouldn’t work all the time, but I bet it definitely works more often than just asking.

Seth’s point is that “Too often, we close the sale before we even open it.” and that we should “Interact first, sell second.”

That’s obvious, right?  In theory, maybe, but certainly not in practice.

How often is the first interaction you have from an organization an ask for you to give to the cause?  Political candidates are often horrible at this.  Some think you shouldn’t send a message that doesn’t make a direct, hard ask for a contribution.

But where is the engagement?  Where do you give people (members, potential donors, etc.) an opportunity to have an interaction with your organization? Where can you deliver something of value that gets people engaged?

Here are a couple of examples:

• Democratic GAIN has an online training manual, in Wiki form, that both provides good information for its members as well as allows its members to add content and improve the manual for everyone.
• Taglit-Birthright Israel asked parents of their alumni to share their stories about what the gift of a trip to Israel meant for their children. Parents not only were able share their story, but also were sent other parents stories creating a shared experience.
• President Obama’s Organizing for America is still in it’s early stages but is attempting to provide Obama supporters with an opportunity to stay connected and organize to advance the same policy goals that the campaign in the fall sought.  Do you want to bet that the people who participate are more likely to give funds than other candidates in the past whose fundraising list turns into a weekly contribution ask messages?
• ActBlue, an online clearinghouse for Democratic donors, provides the interaction by creating a mechanism for people to find, give, and raise money for their favorite Democratic candidates and organizations.  Like the panhandler, they’ve built into their interaction an opportunity to give (IE change for a dollar).  At the bottom of every candidate donation form is an opportunity to leave a tip (can you spare a quarter)?

Do you know of doing this well – providing real engagement while at the same time still hitting their fundraising or conversion goals?

-Stephen