Ask Benevon

Ask Benevon!

New to Benevon? Know a little? Know a lot about the Benevon Model? All questions are welcome and we will do our best to answer as many as possible. To submit a question, send an e-mail to ask-benevon@benevon.com.

As a reminder, you can find a lot of basic information about Benevon and the Benevon Sustainable Funding Model for nonprofits at www.benevon.com.

Becoming Friends with Donors

Q: My question to you is, have you crossed a line when your supporters become your friends? My feeling is that the mission of the organization is what brings us together, and although we want to care for our supporters as if they were our friends, actually becoming friends (i.e., hanging out together, hosting pool parties and cocktail or dinner parties, etc.) is crossing an ethical line. I have a staff member who associates with a particular clique in town, of whom some are donors and some are not, and it creates some difficult and awkward situations, which I feel are inappropriate. I appreciate any thoughts you have to share.

Jeremy in Arizona

A: Tricky question you ask. To be true to our model, I would say that the donor’s relationship to your staff member as a friend needs to be separated from the donor’s relationship to your organization as a donor. In other words, if one of your staff members wants to socialize with donors (as opposed to “cultivate” them on behalf of the organization), then I would say someone else on the staff needs to be the main staff contact for that donor. As you know, we really try to avoid any element of donor obligation, subtle pressure, or “guilt giving” merely to please a friend. Not only does it cloud the donor’s motivation, but it is usually not sustainable. When your staff member/friend moves on from your organization, so will that donor. Hope that helps!

Making an Auction More Mission-Focused

Q: At our existing evening gala event, we use facts and emotional hook mid-way through the auction, then ask attendees to sponsor or underwrite certain measurable services. Is this off-limits now?

Simon in New York

A: It's not off-limits at all—in fact this is exactly how we encourage groups to begin to transition their auctions to build larger donors. If you insert a testimonial right before that "fund a need/fund a service" item in your live auction, the donors who give to that item are giving to your mission (not just to win the trip to Hawaii). Therefore, we recommend that those donors who gave to that item should be invited to a subsequent Free Feel-Good Cultivation Event^™ (ideally at the home of another donor who attended the auction or a table host from the auction), where a speaker from your organization talks about how the money they gave for that particular "fund a need" will be used—perhaps including a testimonial speaker who will be the beneficiary of that contribution. During that cultivation event, be sure to invite them to a Point of Entry^® and to subsequent cultivation events. Ask them to be Ambassadors and host Point of Entry Events or to sit at a VIP table at your next Ask Event^™. Then keep cultivating them. Many can become major donors once they know what you really need. After all, they just thought they were coming to an auction!

Two Ask Events in One Day?

Q: We have been following the Benevon system on our own for about six years now. My executive director thinks we should offer a breakfast and lunch session on the same day as a choice for our Table Captains. I think this sounds confusing for our Table Captains and our staff to keep our reservations straight. He thinks we will double our attendance if people have a choice. Or, he wants to know if anyone else has done this or if anyone has tried giving Table Captains a choice of dates and hold two events on different dates?

Janet in Minnesota

A: An Ask Event^™ should be held either as a breakfast or a lunch—and only one per year. It takes a full year to do the Point of Entry^® work necessary to have a successful event. Therefore, two events per year is a no-no, let alone two on the same day! Having said that, I think it’s great that you want to consider the preferred time of day your Table Captains would like to have the event. It is OK to choose a few tentative dates and times and ask some of your Table Captains in advance what works best for them before making your final decision. Settle on one single date and time, and then move on to the really important step—continuing to invite guests to your Point of Entry Event, then cultivating them thoroughly, so that when your Ask Event does arrive, your guests will be passionate, engaged, and ready to attend.