Benevon Weblog

"Top Five Ask Event Mistakes" by Terry Axelrod

Here is a list of the five most common mistakes groups make when putting on an Ask Event^™.

1. Not starting on time—buying into one of the many reasons for waiting a few minutes to start.
   
   
2. Having empty seats—not managing the Table Captain process sufficiently to fill all the tables.
   
   
3. Being too vague about what the money is needed for rather than citing concrete examples like "It costs us $1,000 per student per year to provide that special math curriculum."
   
   
4. Having a big name Pitch Person who doesn't understand the complete Benevon Model and thinks they need to entertain and motivate people rather than stick to the pitch script.
   
   
5. Not having the program be emotional enough—having it be just "lovely" and "nice" versus "knock your socks off" fabulous!

"Ten Questions You Must Be Able to Answer Before You Ask for a Gift" by Terry Axelrod

You should be able to answer all of the following pre-Ask questions about each donor. And if you can't, that's a sign that the donor is not ready to be asked. You will need to continue to cultivate this donor—by talking about and involving them in the parts of your work that most interest them—until they are sufficiently engaged.

1. Exactly who will you ask? Have you cultivated all the key decision-makers? Should spouses, partners, children, parents, or business partners be included?
   
   
2. Who will do the asking? Would another board member enhance the asking team? Who would this donor want to say yes to?
   
   
3. Where will the Ask take place?
   
   
4. Exactly what will be asked for?
   
   
5. What makes you think this person is ready to be asked now? Have there been any recent cues? Put yourself in the donor's shoes. Will they feel comfortable and receptive to an Ask now?
   
   
6. What are your biggest concerns, fears, and reasons for procrastinating in making this Ask? Often these are legitimate, especially if they concern donor readiness.
   
   
7. Does the person have an abundance of what you are asking for?
   
   
8. What is the person's self-interest in saying yes? How good would they feel saying yes? How sorry will they feel saying no?
   
   
9. What might strengthen this Ask? What could you add that would encourage this person to say yes? A memorial gift? A challenge or matching gift? More years to spread out the payment? A particular type of recognition?
   
   
10. What would be possible for your organization if the person says yes?
    
    

Now, find someone to role play the Ask with you. Give them the background on the person to be asked. Tell them some of your biggest fears so they can be sure to play on them during the practice session. Then find another partner and practice again!

"Ten Tips for Success in Securing Challenge Gifts" by Terry Axelrod

Having a Challenge Gift to announce at your Ask Event^™ can make a major difference in your asking success. This is an ideal enhancement if you have major donors who are ready to give in advance of your Ask Event. Whether given by one donor or pooled by several donors into a Challenge Gift Fund, when used as a matching gift, it gives the donor the perception of getting more for their money—a "bargain" of sorts. And we all love a bargain. Here is how it works.

1. First, go through your donor lists and rank your donors by giving potential. Then rank them again based on their passion for your cause. The handful who shake out at the top of both lists are your candidates for giving funds that can be used as part of the Challenge Gift.


2. Next, set your goal. Say you want to raise $100,000. Ask the top five donors from your lists if they would each consider giving you $10,000. Tell them you would like to use their collective $50,000 as a one-to-one match for gifts from other donors.


3. Then, at the usual time of year for your annual campaign, go to your other potential donors—the ones who are a bit farther down the lists. Tell them this year you have been presented with a wonderful opportunity: a group of your major donors has come together to stimulate the campaign to reach a new level. They have put $50,000 into a Challenge Gift Fund. Every dollar given will be matched one-to-one by this Challenge Fund. And there is a deadline by when you must fulfill the challenge.


4. Remind those donors who work for a company that matches employee contributions that this can mean a four-to-one leverage of their gift. They give $1,000, their company matches it so it becomes $2,000, and your Challenge Gift Fund donors match that amount, so the total gift becomes $4,000. The value of leveraging their gift in this way will not be lost on most of these folks.


5. Be sure to clarify with your Challenge Fund donors—the ones who seed the initial $50,000 in this example—what kind of a challenge they want to offer. Will their money match other donations dollar-for-dollar, two-for-one or three-for-one? Also decide in advance how you want to handle donor pledges. Will they "count" in the match? Will those who pledge still give you the full amount of the Challenge Gift even if you don't fulfill the match? Will the employer's matching portion of each gift count in the base gift to be matched by your Challenge Gift Fund?


6. Another highly effective twist: Use the Challenge Gift Fund to match only the increased portion of a donor's gift. In other words, if they gave $500 last year, the Challenge Fund will match whatever amount the donor gives beyond $500 this year.


7. Think through all the ways you can promote the Challenge Gift Fund. Decide if you want to showcase the founding donor or donors to the fund. How can they help you bring in more donors? Can you write about it in your newsletter, include it in other mailings, send out a special announcement about it, or kick it off at the annual event?


8. Before you announce the Challenge Fund, put together several foolproof strategies for fulfilling on it. You will need ten gifts of $5,000, twenty gifts of $1,000, etc.


9. Be sure that you, personally, are excited about the potential of the Challenge Fund for your organization. What will it provide in the way of programs and services? Can you articulate this to potential donors?


10. Remember: people want to know that you need their support and that you will use their gifts wisely. The more you can leverage their gift, and the more of a "bargain" they feel they are getting for it, the better.