The Magic Arrow

I was asked to do a short blog about my magic arrow.

Your what?

Yes my magic arrow.

When I worked with the Irish Cancer Society I spent a lot of time recruiting volunteers to take join committees and then teaching those volunteers to recruit their own volunteers and supporters.

Now if you've ever had to call people to ask them to do an event, join a committee or even ask them for money the conversation probably went something like...

"Hi, I wanted to ask you a favour

now it's ok if you say no and I completely understand if you don't want to do it.

It's only a really small thing.

and maybe you're not interested 

but we're doing this event 

and we kinda need some people to volunteer

I know you don't really have the time

but is there any way that maybe you might like to, possibly, consider ........"

If I'm polite I'd say we fudge asking

We're afraid to ask somebody to do something that they might really like to do.

So anyway I created the magic arrow to help guide myself and others through asking for support.

It looks like this

I stuck this on my wall and followed it every time I needed to ask somebody to get involved. It goes.

• I work for Don Bosco Care
• I care about our work because I believe that every young person in Ireland deserves the right to have a safe home and an opportunity to achieve their potential
• I believe that we are making a huge difference to the lives of the young people we work with and are giving them a chance for a better future
• I think you'd enjoy getting involved because I know you're very interested in young people and social justice issues
• Will you help us organise our event? 

It works for all causes and any ask. It's just about giving you a structure to shape you conversation.

It's not a trick or even a technique.

There are two very important pieces

It starts with I - NOBODY gives a damn about your organisation. Organisations are buildings, with articles of association and boards. People give because they believe in the same thing we do and if if I'm asking then I need to explain my beliefs.

The second part is the You part. This is just about matching my beliefs, the work of the organisation and what the person believes in.

It's really simple and it's definitely better than the fudges method of asking for help.

So there you go.

The magic arrow

K