I remember a farbrengen that some of the staff and I had by a well-known NYC lobbyist. He often has the unenviable job of fundraising for political campaigns - campaigns which demand uber-quantities of cash in a short, fixed amount of time.
We wound up speaking about the "angry donor" - that gevirishe baalebos that is always a little too short on time and patience to treat you like a mentsch.
"The people that I work for have very clear goals and expectations. They hire me to fulfill those expectations," our lobbyist friend declared. "What do you think would happen if I got to a donor but didn't make the ask? Can you imagine if I reported to my client that I got to the donor but didn't make the ask because he was in a bad mood?! My career would be over!"
He added: "Trust me, I'm sure he was in a great mood until the secretary told him you're in the waiting room...!"
Moral of the story: Ask anyway.
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