June 1, 2005 | Read Time: 1 minute
Raising More Money — The Ask Event Handbook
by Terry Axelrod
This book outlines the “ask event” — a one-hour fund-raising appeal that is designed to tell potential donors about a charity’s mission with the goal of building them into long-term supporters.
Written by Terry Axelrod, a consultant in Seattle, this handbook expands on the ideas included in Raising More Money — A Step-by-Step Guide to Building Lifelong Donors.
Ms. Axelrod begins by describing the importance of building relationships with donors, but cautions that not every group has the wherewithal to pull it off. Moving away from the “transactional world of direct-mail, grant-writing, and special events into the relationship-oriented world of major gifts, planned gifts, and endowments” requires a serious commitment as well as significant help from staff members and volunteers, she says. But if done right, the “ask event” can cultivate new donors, bring in multiple-year gifts, and provide supporters — as well as employees and volunteers — the opportunity to celebrate the organization’s work, Ms. Axelrod says.
She provides detailed information on how to plan the event, including budgeting, assembling staff and board members to help, and exploring ways to acknowledge the contributions donors make. The author then outlines the one-hour event and breaks it down by the minute, with three minutes allocated for the “emotional hook” that introduces the organization’s mission, seven minutes for a video that shows its work, and six minutes for testimonials from people who have been helped by the organization.
“This event is choreographed like a theatrical production and every single one of your 60 minutes counts,” writes Ms. Axelrod.
Publisher: Raising More Money Publications, 2100 North Pacific Street, Seattle, Wash. 98103; (888) 322-9357; 238 pages; $49.95; ISBN 0-9700455-3-0.
