If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone tell me, “You’re so lucky that you live in the US”I come from country X where there’s no culture of philanthropy so we can’t raise money,” I’d be a very rich person

While I agree that I’m so very, very lucky to live in America, I’ve spent a lot of energy trying to convince Atlas’s many international think tank partners that nearly anyone can fundraise, regardless of the cultural challenges of their countries. I firmly believe that fundraising is essentially relationship building. People build relationships everywhere on earth. Yet, I continue to receive very skeptical reactions from many of our partners.

Consequently, today, I was absolutely delighted to hear about the Universal principles, that apply across cultures, from renowned fundraiser, Dr. Robert Cialdini.

Robert Cialdini is the author of a book called Influence, which is a favorite of Kevin Gentry of the Koch Foundation. (Kevin has been very, very helpful to me as I learn the fundraising ropes.) Cialdini recently published another book, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive. In both, he shares insights on how to win people over to your way of thinking.

Cialdini got his start as an “influence expert,” if you want to call it that, the old fashioned way. He wanted to learn how people are influenced. To train for this, he answered ads in his local newspapers and took jobs that brought him in direct contact with people. He learned how to sell cars from a dealership; sell photos over the phone; vacuum cleaners door-to-door. He infiltrated ad agencies to see how they trained their people and eventually did the same with several fundraising organizations. He learned how people are influenced by trying different things.

The part that I want to share with you today focuses on the Universal Principles that Cialdini spoke about today at the Koch Development meeting.

He had me from the get-go when he said, “As we get more global, it’s nice to know what principles work across all cultures. These are part of the human condition, rather than a specific subset.”He then described several universal features that prompt people to say “yes” in the widest range of circumstances. If one or another of these principles is embedded in the strategy that is being employed, people are more likely to give.

Let me tell you a little about just two of his principles.

One of the most basic universal human principles is reciprocity. People give back to those who have first given to them. In the fundraising context, show how you have already made investments to create a better world, or a better situation, for the potential donor. Describe what you have already been doing as a way to pay forward for the contributions that you are hoping to now receive via the rule of reciprocity.

To help us better understand a context, Cialdini cited the hotel towel recycling example. I was prepared to be annoyed because I find these programs terribly one-sided” the hotels are trying to cut their own costs at my expense! But Cialdini cut right to my issue and had me interested. He compared two examples ““one in which a hotel simply asked customers to help recycle (which set them up for my response). In another, the hotel displayed signs that read, “We have already given a donation to an environmental cause in the name of our guests. Would you join us in covering the cost of that donation?” That led to a 28% increase. The rule of reciprocity entails that you give back after your receive. Interesting, isn’t it?

Here’s another universal principle Commitment. Try to find ways to build donor commitment. A good way is to make it easy to attract that first donation, because it’s much easier to get a second donation from a donor than to start all over with a new prospect. How? Consider allowing first time donors to make an initial contribution at a relatively low rate. This makes it far easier to say “yes!” The idea is not to get donors to come in at a low level, but to avoid a situation in which they beat a hasty retreat saying, “No, no, I can’t do that” too overextended.

Again, Cialdini provided a convincing example to illustrate this principle. In one of his social science tests, he sent teams door-to-door asking for donations to the United Way. In half the instances, they would ask, “Would you give to the United Way?” At the other half of the homes, they added the line, “Even a penny would help.” It eliminated the option to say “Oh, I can’t afford it.” Adding this line increased contributions significantly! The average donation stayed the same (no one seriously gave only a penny), but the more people gave.

A related application suggests that people respond well to information about the size of the “average” donation. For example, by tactfully saying, “We’d appreciate a donation of any amount, but most people give “average” you can significantly boost your donations. Cialdini says that this information typically produces the greatest contribution of any techniques.” When people are informed of a norm, they move in that direction.

I can tell you that I learned this one from my many years as the “Swim team mom” for our neighborhood swim team. Whenever I collected donations for the coach’s year-end gift, people always wanted to know “how much,” even when I stressed that it was all voluntary. I eventually learned that people just needed guidance as to what was “normal.” So I offered a number. They were happy to then meet that level, and frequently contributed even more.

In hearing Cialdini, I’m even more convinced that almost anyone can be a fundraiser. As he spoke, I kept thinking back to things I’ve done, again, “as a mom,” that were essentially relationship fundraising. For example, when my daughter, Jessie, needed to attract sponsors for her jump rope team (yes, that’s a competitive sport and some people are trying to turn it into an Olympic sport!), I noticed that most people would fill out the sponsorship list and contribute the same amount as the person who had donated just before them. Yet, every once in awhile, someone would sponsor at a lower rate. Others would then start donating at this lower amount. We quickly learned to add a higher “average” donation to the sponsorship list from a close friend or relative whenever someone entered a donation below the norm. This sent donations back in an upward direction again.

People want to be generous. We just have to help guide them into the many competing opportunities that are out there. Hopefully, I’ve whet your appetite to learn more about Cialdini’s other Universal Principles. If so, you’ll have to read his books.