The Tale of the Marbles

From the archives of Jerold Panas in the early 2000s

A lesson for those of us in Fundraising

There he was, standing in front of sixty professionals from all over the country. It happened several years ago, at one of our Seminars in Boston, I wish you could have been there.

Bob is from the University of Tennessee. For some reason I can’t remember, he started talking about his father. It was obvious there was deep affection for his dad. Bob was still standing in front of the group when I asked: It’s so obvious that your dad has been an immense influence on you, Bob.

What did your dad do for a living?

He was an insurance salesman.

How did he do? Was he successful?

Oh, he was very successful. Very. For eight of nine years, he led the Southeast region in sales for his company. One year he was the national leader.

Ah-hah! I believe we have one of those teachable moments. I probe.

I suppose he sold all the insurance policies by sending out a kazillion letters.

Oh, no! You can’t sell insurance policies by sending out letters.

Well, I suppose he sold them by calling a lot of people on the telephone.

No, no! You can’t sell insurance policies by calling people on the telephone.

Tell us then—how did he sell all those insurance policies?

And now comes this great lesson. The marbles!

Here’s what Bob said.

Well, before dad ever left home in the morning, he put four marbles in his left-hand pocket. Every time he called on someone and asked them to buy an insurance policy, he would take one of the marbles out of his lefthand pocket and put it in the right-hand pocket.

But he wouldn’t shift a marble to the right-hand pocket unless he had asked someone to buy a policy. No Rotary Club meetings, cocktail parties, or chatting with people in the elevator. It had to be a real sit-down session where he would talk to a person about buying a policy.

Dad would never come home until he had moved all four marbles from the left-hand side to the right-hand side. And there were times. . . he came home very late!

I thought—what a wonderful lesson for those of us in fundraising. We won’t get a major gift unless we sit down with someone and ask them to share our vision and dream. And actually ask them to make the gift.

If we were in the life insurance business and our family and livelihood depended on our selling insurance policies, we would certainly be moving those four marbles every day.

There wouldn’t be much time to sit behind a desk, attend staff meetings, develop a lot more

research on prospects, chat with colleagues, or spend a lot of time at the computer. We would

have to make the calls and move those marbles.

You will be amazed at how much you don’t get if you don’t ask for the gift! Go ahead. Make the call. Ask! You will be successful. You can count on it. And these four marbles will not only serve as a reminder—they will bring you good fortune. And that’s a promise. – JP