Why Can't I Even GIVE Money Away?

I can't even GIVE money away!

Am I missing something? Is the news about a weak economy and how organizations are finding it difficult to raise money true? Or is it some kind of reality spoof?

Here is the situation. I have just had a new website designed to sell business-related courses and would like to do a little market research to get some objective feedback on it. (Of course, I think it is a great site - I just paid a bunch to build it! It should be!)

So I set aside money for a research budget and sent emails to the presidents of local chapters within the professional market audience telling them I would donate up to $200 to their chapter if ten members would complete a survey analyzing my website. I want to know their thoughts about its appearance, content relevance to their profession, ease of course sampling, online testing for certificates of completion, and so forth.

Plus, I want to know if there anything else they think I should know. After all, I want to sell what they need, not just what I have.

So I send out forty offers of $200 to their chapter asking if they have at least ten members each willing to spend about 45 minutes on a survey. After about three weeks, I have received two responses! Two out of forty! I realize that a 5% return on a cold solicitation is not bad but I am virtually offering them something for practically NOTHING!

So here are my questions to the more savvy entrepreneurs out there:

• Are my expectations unreasonable? If so, how and why? (I am not planning to argue with what you may say - I just need to understand clearly.)
• Am I offering too little - a $20 donation to their chapter for about 45 minutes on each of ten surveys?
• What am I missing?

If you have some thoughts, please contact me via the website link below. With your permission, I'll publish what I get as a "lessons learned" article in the future.