Welcome From Brian
by Brian Saber
This post was written by Brian Saber, Asking Matters President. Brian has spent his entire career ASKING for money for non-profits. From his early days as a student leader and telethon caller (!) to his six years in charge of major and principal gifts throughout the Midwest for Brandeis University, to his two stints as an executive director, every position involved significant face-to-face solicitation. And he is still honing that art today, cultivating and soliciting select major donors for various clients. With that perspective Brian created Asking Matters, a resource that all non-profits could afford.
Welcome to Asking Matters, where you can access my most effective tips and techniques for learning how to ask for donations face-to-face. I’ve developed this system based on making thousands of asks, for a variety of organizations during my 30-year career as a frontline fundraiser. Asking face-to-face is not easy, but it is the most effective way I’ve found to increase giving and hit your fundraising goals. In my experience, there’s no asking strategy that can beat it. Not phone calls. Not email. Not snail mail. Nothing is going to help you hit your fundraising goals faster than mastering the art of asking face-to-face. That’s why I’m so excited to share this collection of tools, training, and community resources designed for every skill level from a fundraising newbie to a seasoned director of development or executive director. I can’t help thinking how much time and effort I could have saved if I had this type of resource early in my career. At Asking Matters I apply all my experience and knowledge from the field to a proven system of training and support that helps fundraisers ask for gifts comfortably and successfully. I start with the idea that you have a specific Asking Style and that you can be a more effective fundraiser when you ask in your unique way. With the self-awareness and confidence you’ll feel knowing your Asking Style, I’ll teach you the ins and outs of asking for gifts. You’ll learn how to:
- Conduct an ask from start to finish
- Respond when a donor says “maybe” or “no”
- Make the strongest case for support
- Follow up with your donors effectively
- Train your staff and board to be better askers
And because effective asking takes ongoing practice and learning, I’ll continue to offer new perspectives, refresher exercises, tools, and inspirational stories from the field. Take the Asking Style Assessment and then become an Asking Matters member so you can ask more, raise more, and DO more for your cause. Here’s to your fundraising success, Brian Saber President Asking Matters
