It was totally a stretch assignment.
I could have done registration, volunteer coordination….all the roles my project-manager brain would take to like a fish in water.
Instead, I signed up to ask for donations.
Why? Because I knew it would be uncomfortable. Asking for things, especially from people I don’t know, takes a lot of effort.
It seems so awkward. “Hi, I’m Rachel. Give me money.”
(Sound familiar to anyone?)
Even though I was working on behalf of a verified non-profit organization hosting a local event, there was something holding me back. And as the day of the event grew closer, I could tell I was stalling.
Then one day, I was taking a break from my search in a local coffee shop. It was my first time there and the coffee was very good. I wondered, what if we got some free coffee for the event volunteers?
I steeled my courage and went up to the ordering window. “Hi again. Do you do in-kind donations for local non-profits?”
The barista smiled and said, “Yes, you can use that QR code right there.”
I looked to the right. Near the register was a sign “Apply for donations here.” I hadn’t even noticed it.
So I applied.
From that point onwards, I was on the lookout. Local business? National business? I started asking everywhere. It was as if I had been given permission when it had previously been withheld.
I tried to get as many “no’s” as possible, because the “yes’s” were sprinkled in.
And no one seemed terribly annoyed to be asked. If they were busy or couldn’t help, they just politely moved me along.
I realized I had been thinking about it wrong. It wasn’t just about getting stuff. It was about giving someone a chance to participate – a chance they could accept or decline, but either way I’d have made the offer.
Around the same time, I led a workshop on speaking up and asking for what you need. At the close, I asked people to summarize what had changed in their mindset.
One person offered,
“I thought asking was just about asking for things.
Now I believe it might be about building relationships.”
I realized this was incredibly similar to what I’d discovered from these donation requests.
Asking can create a connection, a conversation, that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, be it just a big smile from the Costco employee handing you your gift card, or a career-opening opportunity.
Tell me,
What do you currently believe asking means?
and
What might you discover if you made a few more asks this weeks?
