Myth #1: Selling skills = Fundraising skills

My premise is simple: all fundraising is sales, but not all sales is fundraising.  Thus, it might be argued that salespeople considering a move into fundraising are a natural fit.  However, as the phrase above makes clear there is overlap, but the two functions are not the same thing.  I appreciate there may some who disagree, but as an old “sales guy” I really see this as a compliment to the highly skilled fundraisers that I’ve come to know.

Websters defines the verb to Sell as “to transfer (goods) to or render (services) for another in exchange for money”.  The distinction for fundraisers is that, excluding pure sponsorship deals, what is most often being sold is a feeling.  Why do most individuals give?  Whether from altruism, obligation or from guilt, in the end it’s all about the donor feeling better.  Having a positive effect through one’s gift and feeling good about it is the core motivator.

So fundraisers do sell. However, what they usually sell is intangible, and both the “pitch” and the relationship this requires is quite different from traditional sales.  I’ve spent many hours in training sessions that counseled  “needs based selling” based on understanding the buyer’s needs and motivations.  But in the end whether you’re selling a box of Tide or the services of a call centre, it’s still selling a thing.  Not a feeling.

Selling a feeling is a whole different world.  Salespeople moving into the fundraising world have lots of solid transferable skills to start, including solid communication skills and hopefully good listening skills in particular.  But this not-so-subtle distinction that you’re asking people to part with their after-tax dollars for a feeling requires a lot of adjusting for many salespeople.  It certainly did for me.

There was a time when relationship selling meant “I’ll just go put these new golf clubs in the trunk of your car”.  Those days are largely gone in the sales world.  But relationships are about the ONLY thing that matters in fundraising.  The relationship between the donor/prospect and the charity, the relationship between the donor/prospect and the fundraiser, and most importantly the relationship between the donor/prospect and the cause are where this comes into play.

I’ll close with this thought.  I know quite a few good salespeople who would make excellent fundraisers.  But virtually every fundraiser I know would make a simply outstanding salesperson.  And for the organizations that they serve and the causes that benefit from their exceptional talents lets all be thankful that this is where they choose to stay.