| |
 |
March 2020 |
Free Fundraising Masters with Carol Weisman
plus a new blog post, AM Experts update,
an Asking Styles tip & On the Road with Brian
Dear [First Name],
 There are many taboo subjects in our world. Death is certainly at the top of the list. Ask any pro what a conversation about planned giving is about and they will unanimously tell you it’s about living, leaving a lasting legacy, and impacting the world, even after one has passed.
But how to have this conversation? Join Fundraising Master Carol Weisman to learn:
- Who to ask
- How to ask
- The questions to ask
- The words to use
- Who you might take with you
- …and the phrase that pays
This FREE webinar will take place on March 10th at 1pm ET. All registrants will get a link to the recording, so register whether or not you can attend live!
Give 'Em Some Post-Gift Love
new blog post from brian
 Somehow we’ve got things reversed. We’re laser-focused on our donors as we’re courting them for gifts. We work hard to get those meetings. We roll out the red carpet. We make them feel important.
Then we thank them, hopefully effusively and often (seven times is the golden rule). Many of us do a pretty good job of that these days.
It’s what happens after the thanks that’s cause for concern…
Asking Matters Experts Update
check out what our resident experts have been up to!
 Michael Davidson
Board Governance & Training Expert
It’s a busy time for Michael! He recently facilitated discussions with fundraising professionals on “Why Won’t Your Board Fundraise,” and will be moderating a panel at Fundraising Day New York in June. If you're going to FRDNY make sure to catch his session. I have learned more about boards from Michael than anyone. Just recently he's:
- guided a board-led strategic planning process
- facilitated a board retreat on recruitment strategy
- led a board restructuring process
- trained staff liaisons to board committees
- facilitated workshops on board management for executive directors
If you're looking to get your board involved more strategically in fundraising, or if you would like to bring some training to your staff, check out our online training course Rubber Stamps Don't Fundraise!
 Sue Kindred
Storytelling Expert
Sue Kindred has launched into 2020 with some amazing stories of client transformation, including organizational culture shifts and staff alignment models.
She's excited to be leading the Board Chair’s Excellence Series at Richmond’s Community Foundation for top leaders in the central Virginia region. In her ongoing quest to help nonprofits find and share their best stories, Sue will be a featured speaker at the Virginia Conference on Volunteerism May 20 and 21 sharing best practices in storytelling. Make sure to catch Sue's session if you're there.
 Joe Tumolo
Planned Giving & Training Expert
Joe Tumolo is keeping up to date with the latest laws and regulations affecting the fundraising world!
The SECURE Act, which took effect January 1, will affect your donor’s ability to save money for retirement and will influence how they use their funds over time. Joe has provided a video featuring him and David Toll, where they break down and simplify the law:
watch the video
Asking Styles Tip for the Month
analyzing your board composition
 Ask the entire board (works for staff too) to take the Assessment and report back their results to someone who will log them.
Share the overall results with everyone (e.g "we have 3 Rainmakers, 6 Go-Getters, etc.") and have a discussion at your next board meeting on how this profile influences how the board operates.
If you have a preponderance of one Style or another, is it causing the board to be "too" something and "not enough" something else?
- Rainmakers: push for outcomes
- Go-Getters: grab onto big ideas
- Kindred Spirits: never forget the heart of the matter
- Mission Controllers: get things done methodically
You might also look at recruitment through this lens. What do you need more of – strategy, vision, heart, or planning?
On the Road
march 2020
Last month I headed to Reno to work with the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and their incredibly intellectual faculty. I was completely outclassed on the smarts front but thrilled to be helping an organization doing such amazing work to help save our world. Most of their work is focused on the environment, though I also learned about "dog sniffs."
Did you know that even though law enforcement relies heavily on dog sniffs for drug enforcement – and they've been used as evidence even in the absence of hard evidence – in fact there is no proof the dogs are detecting those smells accurately! This means there's a good chance people are being convicted wrongly based solely on a dog smelling something though drugs were not found. Wow!
Also, DRI wins the award for best training location ever. How about this view?!
Here's to another great month of fundraising,
Brian
|
|
|
| |
|
February 2017 |
Register for a FREE Webinar with Sue Kindred!
Plus a new post on Introverts and Events, a video on training Your board, and save 20% on Fundraising 101 for Board Members!
 Story brings us together. It solidifies our place in the world, helps identify a common purpose, and provides meaning to our work of creating social change.
We often think about our donor relationships from a unilateral perspective. Our organization needs money to meet our mission. Our funders and donors help us meet that mission by supporting us financially.
While that’s true, it’s important that we see our relationships as symbiotic. That we see them as a way to help the donor get their own needs met while helping us meet ours. We can only grow our impact in our communities by sharing with each other stories that are compelling and effective.
Join Sue and me for this FREE webinar and learn to develop a stronger understanding of the role of story in building relationships with our donors and other stakeholders on Monday, February 13th at 1pm ET.
Fundraising 101 for Board members
Coming up in April – Register now and save 20%!
 Are your board members not getting out to cultivate relationships and ask for gifts? Do you find it difficult to get your board to understand its role in "giving and getting"?
We can help change that…
Just in time for Spring are our highly-praised Fundraising 101 webinars, created to teach your board how they can play a bigger role and make an impact.
If your board members struggle to…
 |
“give and get” to the best of their ability |
|
feel comfortable being involved in fundraising |
|
understand the impact of having everyone actively involved in fundraising |
…then our Fundraising 101 webinars are for you!
Introverts and Fundraising Events: How to Make It Work
Read my new post on the Asking Matters blog
 We introverts don’t like events. Too many people. Too many conversations crisscrossing each other. The schmoozing takes too much energy! We’d rather be anywhere else.
Yet the reality for fundraisers is events come with the territory and we can’t avoid them. Chances are our organization has at least one “big” fundraising event a year – a gala (cringe!) or something with food, entertainment, an auction, etc. We might have walkathons, lectures, cocktail parties, and so on.
Given the reality, how do we make it work for us? Read the full post for my tips based on 30 years of dealing with events.
New FREE 2-Minute Video on Training Your Board
First in my new video series
Introducing a year-long series of brief videos on the topics you care most about. Here I tackle the importance of board training.
Poll Results: What Did You Want to Be When You Were 18?
A great response to last month's community poll
The results are in…and they did surprise me. A full 4.1% of you said you knew you wanted to be a non-profit fundraiser when you were 18 (and another 8% said you wanted to do something else in the non-profit world).
Now, you might be saying that 4.1% seems low, but I was expecting something on the order of 1%! Every time I present to a room of fundraisers I ask if anyone grew up wanting to be a fundraiser, and among the thousands in those rooms I have found just one! One woman said she wanted to be a fundraiser when growing up.
So the fact that 26 out of 634 respondents knew they wanted to be fundraisers is amazing…and we thank you for leading the way for the rest of us!
What careers were most popular? Here you go:
Arts 16.4%
Business 10.9%
Medicine 8.4 %
Law 8.0%
Psychology 8.0%
Something else in the non-profit world 8.0%
Hope you're having a great year of fundraising,
|
|
|
Here’s my biggest pet peeve – organizations that act like I’ve never given when they ask me to give again. And I’m getting mighty tired of taking the high road.
There are at least a dozen organizations to which I give between $50 and $250 a year. As a fundraiser, I know not to expect much. I don’t want the organization spending time and money on what are modest gifts.
But they way they conduct business you’d think I don’t exist at all, and that certainly doesn’t make me want to contribute again. All I ask is this.
When you ask me for money, please acknowledge that I’ve given before, tell me what I gave, and when I gave it.
If you don’t, here’s what happens:
- I assume my last gift couldn’t have been too important or you would have been aware of it when you corresponded with me.
- I have no idea whether I gave already this year so you’re not respecting my right to give each organization I support ONE gift a year and it feels like you’re trying to trick me into giving twice.
- I have no idea whether this is my annual reminder or I’ve ended up in some random direct mail effort.
- I have to figure out what I gave last year and, if I don’t have the time to go back through my records, I’ll probably guess low because I’m so annoyed.
Correcting for this is easy. With databases as they are, how easy it is to mail merge solicitation letters that say?
Dear Brian,
Thank you so much for your gift last year of $100, which helped us transform the lives of more than 600 children by finding them loving, permanent adoptive families. With your help we changed the course of their lives. We gave them the solid, supportive, stable family environment every child needs in order to blossom into a happy and healthy adult.
Would you consider increasing your gift this year to $250? We’ve set ambitious goals…
So easy, right? So why don’t organizations take this step? Is some annual fund expert telling them it’s a better tactic to keep asking? Well, they might be finding numerous people are willing to make additional gifts, but do they have any idea how many of those who don’t give again are annoyed that they’ve been solicited blindly? And perhaps stop giving because they feel they’re being asked incessantly? I can tell you everyone I know complains to me about this since I’m the fundraising expert… and I’m embarrassed and I try to get them to have pity on these poor organizations, but underneath I know they’re right to be annoyed.
New Year’s Resolution
So, after 30+ years of charitable giving, I’ve decided this doesn’t work for me and I plan to be treated well as a donor. In 2017 I’m only going to give to charities that respect me enough to let me know what I’ve given them the last time around. If they solicit me blindly and repetitively, they’re out. If they don’t let me know what I gave, they’re out. I won’t decrease my overall philanthropy – in fact I’ll try to increase it as I always do – but I will be directing it to organizations that know I’m alive.
Ready to up your asking game in 2017? How about setting some New Year’s resolutions.
My Kindred Spirit intuitive side doesn’t lend itself to resolutions but my secondary Mission Controller analytic side helps me put some in place. So I always make resolutions for the New Year – some personal and some professional – and while I don’t fulfill them all, making them gives me a focus and a yardstick.
Which of these would you put at the top of your list? Select a resolution below to see how you compare to your fellow fundraisers!
1. Make 10% more face-to-face solicitations
Easy to measure and the more I ask the more I’ll get.
Choose this resolution >>
2. Increase the amount my donors talk by 10%
If they talk 50% on average, what can I do to bump it to 60%? Maybe I’ll write out at least five questions to ask each donor.
Choose this resolution >>
3. Ask for the training I need to feel confident and prepared
What challenges me most? Setting up the meeting? Making the actual ask? Following through? I’m going to find the resource I need and ask for it.
Choose this resolution >>
4. Help my board have more ownership
They won’t make personally significant gifts or help fundraise unless they agree to do so as a group and then monitor themselves. I’m going to start by helping them develop a process to solicit themselves for annual fund gifts.
Choose this resolution >>
5. Write all contact reports within 24 hours
I know the longer I wait the less I’ll remember, and keeping track of what I’ve learned is critical so my organization doesn’t always have to start from scratch with a donor.
Choose this resolution >>
6. Ditch one fundraising event
All my events aren’t equally worthwhile. In fact, I know one or two are tired and unproductive. If I get rid of the one that’s least effective it will open up the time the whole team needs to cultivate and solicit major gifts.
Choose this resolution >>
7. Remember why I love my organization
Or fall in love with it again. I’ve got to love it and be proud of it to get out there and sell it. I’ll visit programs and talk to program staff to get inspired.
Choose this resolution >>
8. Always ask for an exact amount
No excuses. If I can’t ask for an exact amount I have to ask myself why. I know they’re much stronger asks.
Choose this resolution >>
9. Feel great about myself
Asking isn’t easy and it generally isn’t fun. I do it because I care and want to make the world a better place. I feel great knowing I’m making a difference.
Choose this resolution >>
| |
|
December 2016 |
Welcome Asking Matters Experts!
Plus your last chance for the Asking Style Webinars, our
End-of-Year Fundraising Survey and On the Road with Brian!
As 2016 comes to a close, I’m delighted to be able to formally introduce all four Asking Matters Experts to you.
As many of you now know, over the last few months I’ve been building a team of people whose talents I really respect. They each run a successful consulting business of their own, and their skill sets complement mine.
They’ve got a tremendous amount of experience and perspective to bring to you and the entire fundraising community, and each of them will be blogging, creating material, and leading webinars during 2017.
I'd like to extend a big welcome to Michael, Andrea, Sue, and Joe!
So, what are the Asking Matters Experts up to?
Recent events and trainings to come!
Michael Davidson
Coming Up: Michael and I have been hard at work developing a revolutionary new training for boards. We're looking forward to announcing it through Asking Matters in the new year – be sure to stay tuned!
In addition to his work with several clients, on November 10 he presented a workshop on boards and fundraising at the Westchester AFP conference, and on November 15 he presented an all-day workshop on board governance for grantees of the Hartford Foundation.
 Andrea Kihlstedt
Coming Up: Andrea always has a wealth of information, advice, and webinars coming out. Be sure to visit Capital Campaign Masters for more advice!
Andrea recently presented at the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference in Chicago on the power and importance of learning your donors’ stories to give you a window into how they want to give.
Sue Kindred
Coming Up: Using Storytelling and Blogs to Influence Nonprofit Impact – Center for Nonprofit Excellence, Charlottesville, VA
In this hands-on workshop, attendees will learn the power of storytelling and how to use that power to create and uplift their nonprofit’s impact through blogging.
Plus, don't miss Alchemy 2017 on May 19th!
Sue recently concluded a regional boot camp on storytelling. This hands-on half-day workshop provided opportunities to "roll up your sleeves" and practice combining compelling storytelling techniques with effective story structure. If you would like to consider hosting a boot camp in your area, please contact Sue at Sue@SueKindred.com.
Joe Tumolo
Coming Up: The Art and Science of Asking: Advanced
Did your shop leave money on the table last year? Make sure it doesn’t happen this year by investing in training.
Join me and Joe on December 14 from 1-1:30pm ET to learn about The Art and Science of Asking: Advanced, the intense full-day training we developed using Asking Matters’ revolutionary concept of Asking Styles. Register for FREE!
Joe recently recorded a webinar on Planned Giving for Your Board, as well as an upcoming capital campaigns podcast with fellow Asking Matters Expert Andrea Kihlstedt.
Take our End-of-Year Fundraising Survey!
…and be entered to win free registration for
Fundraising 101 for Board Members
 You're invited to participate in our end-of-year fundraising survey. We cover a number of topics from your use of Asking Matters, to what areas of fundraising and the resources you'd like to see covered.
Your answers will help us to develop more effective webinars and resources to continue training fundraisers like yourself.
Please take the survey now – it only takes 3 minutes to complete and we'd really appreciate the feedback.
Once you complete it, you'll be entered into our drawing to win free registration for your entire board in next spring's Fundraising 101 for Board Members webinars – a $299 value. Get started with the survey!
Last call for Thursday's Asking Style Webinars!
Registration still open for Kindred Spirits & Mission Controllers
Start closing more gifts – and larger gifts – by using your Asking Style! Improve your fundraising by using the strengths of your personality – and by addressing your challenges.
Don't miss this great opportunity to learn how to ask based on your own Asking Style. Kindred Spirits and Mission Controllers – learn more and register for the last two of our webinars in December.
On the Road with Brian: NextDor
I was delighted to present at a conference for NextDor, an organization dedicated to bringing social entrepreneurship to non-profits. It always strikes me how many organizations are doing good work yet could do so much more if they were more focused on major gifts.
Lots of questions about new/cold prospects and I reminded them to focus on their board and current donors, most of whom would give more with more attention and more effective asking.
Does any organization maximize what their board members and largest donors could give? I haven't found one yet.
As 2016 fast comes to a close, I hope you've had a great year of fundraising,
|
|
|
The Art and Science of Asking for Money with Joan Garry
Published on October 10th, 2016
Brian Saber
President of Asking Matters
It was a pleasure to be a guest on fellow fundraiser Joan Garry’s podcast this week! We discussed the 4 Asking Styles, and how to use your personal strengths and weaknesses to your advantage when asking for donations. Here’s what Joan had to say about the session:
“When I started as the Executive Director at GLAAD a long time ago, I had no fundraising experience at all. Good thing I was an extrovert and a quick learner!
On the latest episode of the podcast, I had Brian Saber as my guest, fundraiser extraordinaire. He taught me that, in fact, you don’t have to be an extrovert at all to be a terrific fundraiser. Who knew?
Turns out there are four different styles of fundraising and your personality dictates which will work best for you (and which will result in failure.)
If you’re involved in fundraising at all — staff or board — you’ll want to listen to this.“
Follow the link below to listen to the full recording on Joan’s site:
listen to the podcast now
What you’ll learn in this episode:
- What to do if you have no fundraising experience whatsoever
- The 4 different asking styles
- Why you might do your best fundraising with a partner
- How to create an institutional relationship with your donors (and why that’s critical)
- Rules for board fundraising
Thanks for having me Joan, it was great talking with you!
find us on social media
connect with asking matters on facebook, twitter, and linkedin for more fundraising advice, news, and important updates!
Asking for a Donation on the First “Date”
Published on June 21st, 2016
Brian Saber
President of Asking Matters
Can you ask for a gift the first time you meet a donor? Yes, you can – often!
In fundraising, as in life, we’ve got our ideal and we’ve got our reality. The ideal is we get to know a donor over time and, when the relationship feels strong, ask for a gift. The reality is most of our donors want less of our time than we want of theirs. The reality is many donors will contribute significant gifts without getting to know us well. The reality is many donors are far away and we can’t visit them often.
Most face-to-face asking is for annual funds – what we need to run our organizations day in and day out. They can be general operating funds or project-specific, but they’re for the current year.
While it’s nice to think we can maximize every one of those gifts, the goal in annual giving is to establish an annuity of giving over many years. That means the ultimate level of today’s gift is far less important than the overall relationship. Each of those gifts builds the relationship.
So let’s take maximizing a gift out of the equation and focus on maximizing the relationship. In that context, asking on the first date is less daunting. Does that sound counter-intuitive?! It’s all in how you go about it.
If you presume your donor is ready to meet with you and/or make a gift, you risk making the relationship transactional. However, if you put the decision to meet in your donor’s hands, you allow the donor to feel heard. That alone builds the relationship and makes it more likely your donor will be willing to meet. Here are four scenarios and how I approach them:
1. A Donor Who Has Given But Has Never Met Anyone
In this situation there needs to be a reason the first meeting would involve an ask. It might be distance – the first and only time you’ll be in the donor’s neck of the woods. Or the donor has declined meetings before so this is just another attempt. Or it’s the anniversary of the donor’s last gift.
In each case you have to acknowledge that you’ve never met and the donor might want to get to know you first. So ask! “Would you be comfortable meeting with me to discuss your continued support of our organization? Or would you prefer to get to know me better and have me come back at a later date?”
2. A Donor Who Has Given and Met Others But Hasn’t Met You
This is easier. “I’m calling to continue building the relationship you have with our organization that you started with Gloria Rose. As you know, Gloria has gotten a great job at so-and-so organization, and now I’m responsible for our relationship with you. It happens to be the anniversary of your last gift. Would you be comfortable meeting with me to discuss your continued support of our organization? Or would you prefer to get to know me better and have me come back at a later date?”
3. A Prospect Who Has a History
In this case the person has gotten to know the organization through others – perhaps through friends who are involved, through volunteering, or by being a program user. Here the relationship with the organization is there and you should feel comfortable reaching out based on that.
Let’s assume the prospect is a volunteer: “Thank you for being such an amazing volunteer. Your contribution of time has been invaluable to our senior program and helped us provide seniors the social supports that help them live better lives. Would you consider meeting with me to talk about supporting the organization financially as well? Given your investment in the organization to date, I thought you might be interested in helping the seniors further by becoming a donor.”
4. Prospects Who Have Never Given and Have No History
This is the toughest, and I find it only works in a few instances. Sometimes there’s someone with a stake in your community or sector who is known to fund broadly. Often in this situation asking on the first visit only works with someone who takes a business-like approach to charitable giving AND makes clear that one meeting is all you’ll get.
Over the years I’ve dealt with busy philanthropists who are willing to add a cause to their roster if it’s aligned with their vision, but don’t want to take the time to build a deeper relationship. In that case, it’s really up to the prospect to propose an all-in-one date – you risk being presumptuous if you do.
Bottom line, in every case I just tell it like it is. Why are we often so reticent to simply state the obvious and tell the truth? Whenever anyone asks for advice, I always tell them to share exactly what they shared with me – the truth. Just put it out there. You’ll be amazed how far it can get you.
How to Learn More
To watch more free fundraising videos and download handy materials, sign up for your Free Library. You’ll get a number of 5 to 8-minute videos on the Asking Styles, the Role of the Asker, and more, as well as my sample prospect tracker, an Anxiety/Excitement Worksheet, and my two most popular Top Ten lists!
find us on social media
connect with asking matters on facebook, twitter, and linkedin for more fundraising advice, news, and important updates!
| |
|
June 2016 |
Free Webinar with Joan Garry
…plus why the perfect fundraiser doesn't exist, Asking Styles at Penn State, and an all-new special events webinar!
We’re all on the same side, right?
Sometimes it doesn’t feel that way when executive directors and board members are working at odds and not communicating well.
That’s not a recipe for fundraising success!
Join the amazing, outspoken, tell-it-as-it-is Joan Garry, our next Fundraising Masters guest, as she and I discuss how to get everyone working together optimally for the good of the cause.
Register for this free webinar on July 13th, at 1:00pm ET!
What's Your Asking Style?
There’s No Such Thing as the Ideal Fundraiser
Lots of people think one particular type of person makes the ideal fundraiser – and that this person exists! They have in mind an image of someone rather outgoing and friendly.
Someone very convincing who knows exactly the right words for any situation and has every fact and figure at his or her fingertips.
Someone comfortable talking about money and not afraid to ask.
Someone driven to close deals and unafraid of rejection.
Ideals are just that – ideals. While we can fantasize about the perfect 10 of a fundraiser, doesn’t it make more sense for each of us to embrace our own personality and ask in a way that will work for us?
Read my full post, What's an Asking Style?, to learn more about the concept and how it can help you immediately feel more comfortable.
read the full post now
New Webinar on Maximizing Special Events
Forget the Decorations and Raise Much More
Too much time and not enough money from your fundraising event? Out-of-control volunteers who obsess about table decorations?
Then it's high time you put fundraising front and center. Don't leave money on the table at your next event. Bring it home for your organization.
Find out how to plan an event that raises more money than anxiety, make it worth the time you put into it, and make it pay off financially.
In my new webinar for CharityHowTo you'll learn how to:
|
Develop strategic goals for your event that ensure success |
|
Raise more by having clear expectations for honorees and chairs |
|
Enlist a committee that is laser-focused on asking |
|
Train your staff and volunteers to ask |
Two dates quickly approaching in June! Learn more at Charity HowTo.
learn more and register
Sophie Penney at Penn State
How she uses the Asking Styles in her Leadership course
Sophie Penney, Ph.D., will be using the Asking Styles when she again teaches Fundraising Leadership: Building a Strong Base in the spring, a course offered by Penn State.
I asked Sophie, a longtime Asking Matters member and fan, to shed some light on how it's used:
"Students are asked to take the Assessment and reflect on their Asking Style in Lesson 3 – just general thoughts on what it means to them and how they think it might impact their fundraising.
They're asked to revisit their Asking Style prior to making an ask in Lesson 8. The ask is made online with their course asking partner. Afterward, they talk about Asking Styles while debriefing on how the ask went."
Learn more about this course from Penn State, Fundraising Leadership: Building a Strong Base.
Keep it going Sophie!
On the Road with Brian
Northwestern Settlement
I recently headed to Chicago for Northwestern Settlement's 125th anniversary party!
How many organizations reach that milestone… and how many are still growing and innovating at that age?!
On top of that, Ron Manderschied is only the third head of the organization in all those years. Pretty amazing. I'm so proud to have worked with them for 25 years and to have watched them grow six-fold in that time.
Hope you had a great week of fundraising,
 |
Brian SaberPresident of Asking Matters
|
|
|
|
X
Start your free Asking Matters trial!
Sign up for a free 30-day trial of membership for more fundraising trainings, webinars, and a library of resources
learn more
like us on facebook
follow us on twitter
connect on linkedin
How many of the big gifts you read about came from direct mail, special events, or a phonathon? Virtually none! Large gifts come about by cultivating donors and getting to know them in person, and then asking them face-to-face to make a gift. 
