HOW TO GIVE A BETTER SPEECH THAN OBAMA and change your world - (A Lesson for Fundraisers) by Darren Kelly, Kellcomm, Blog - Day 27

Hi,

These are tough times for charities. They have to work harder to receive every donation and communicate more effectively why their cause is more deserving than another. Do you work for a charity? Perhaps a lesson from Obama can inspire you to step up your ability to raise the money necessary to fund the great cause you serve. There are two points I would like to cover.

Motivation and Communication

1. Motivation

When Obama ran for the Senate, he competed against a candidate with more money, more prestige and better support. Did he sit by the phone and hope for good luck, or did he climb the steep and unforgiving path to success? In 'The Audacity of Hope', he wrote about the countless unreturned phone calls, the gentle rejections, the harsh rejections and the sight of his opponent spending small fortunes on his campaign. However, he accepted the heat of the challenge and picked up the phone, asked for donations and overcame the fears and hurts of rejection. Obama’s lesson for fundraisers here is that many people will give if you just get to work and find them.

2. Communication.

As you can imagine, my research for the book has been exhaustive. I started with a study of Obama’s speeches, and then I read his books and articles written about him. I also decided to look closer at the Obama election and re-election campaigns. Here is a fundraising lesson from Obama’s Deputy Campaign Manager, Julianna Smoot.
In a recent email to me, Julianna wrote more about me than Obama. It is an interesting lesson for fundraisers. Do you speak only about you and your cause, or do you invite your potential donor to see your world through their senses? Let us look at the words Julianna used to personalise her very short message.

You - 10 times
You’d - twice
Your - four times
You’ve - once
You’ll - once

As I always say, communication is everything.

On Monday, I will reveal my conversation with Obama’s agent, one of the USA’s Top 100 Lawyers and what people in the legal profession can learn from him.

Take care,

Darren.

PS: 'HOW TO GIVE A BETTER SPEECH THAN OBAMA and change your world' - is available on iTunes and Amazon NOW!
Audio Version only.
Text version in January 2012.



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