We closely monitor the Ask Events of the organizations that go through the Benevon Workshops, and analyze their success. While most of our groups meet or exceed their financial goals for their Ask Events, those that fall short generally report it was due to one or more of these reasons. As you plan for your next Ask Event, these are the key pitfalls to avoid.

1. Not enough emotion in the program.
• What was the opening Emotional Hook in the program?
• Did it relate to the mission?
• If it was a flag ceremony or a poetry reading or a prayer, did it involve the program participants or relate to their issues and needs?
• Was there enough music in the program?
• Did the Visionary Leader tell enough stories or share their personal reasons for being involved?
• Did each person on the program convey their genuine connection to the mission?
• Did the video touch people and move them to tears three times?
• Were the testimonial speakers moving?
• Did the real impact of your organization’s work come through as they told their stories?
2. Getting creative with the levels on the pledge card.
• Did the pledge card clearly list the levels of the Multiple-Year Giving Society?
• Did you have only the three recommended levels? Was the lowest level $1,000 a year?
• Were the three levels either $1,000, $5,000, $10,000 or $1,000, $10,000, $25,000?
• Were all of the levels clearly listed as a multiple-year pledge for five years?
• Did the names of the levels make sense and fit together logically, e.g. Sponsor a Camper, Sponsor a Cabin, Sponsor a Camp?
• Were the needs for each of these three "items" referenced throughout the program ("We turn away 100 kids each year who want to come to camp")?
3. Pitch Person doesn’t follow the script.
• Did the Pitch Person understand the Benevon Model?
• Did the Pitch Person understand the Multiple-Year Giving Society?
• Did the Pitch Person have a written, prepared script based on the script in the Benevon book?
• Did the Pitch Person rehearse the script in advance with others who gave honest feedback?
• Did the Pitch Person actually follow the script on the day of the event?
• Did the Pitch Person walk the guests through each line of the pledge card according to the script?
• Did the Pitch Person pause long enough to give the guests time to fill out the cards?
• Did the Pitch Person ask the guests to pass their pledge cards to their Table Captains when they were finished filling them out?
4. Having too few people who are "ripened fruit" present at the event.
• Had at least 20% of the guests at the Ask Event attended a Point of Entry within the last year?
• Had someone from the organization personally invited all key supporters of the organization, such as current and former board members, donors and dedicated volunteers?
5. Having too many Table Captains who did not "volunteer" to be Table Captains or had not been briefed about their role.
• Were less than 10% of the Table Captains staff members?
• Were the remaining Table Captains chosen for their passion or merely because they were obliged to be Table Captains; for example, because they were on the board?
• Was each Table Captain given specific wording for inviting their guests to sit at their table, such that each guest knew that they would be asked to give money yet that giving was not required?
• Did Table Captains put thought into who they invited in an attempt to have some of the guests attend a Point of Entry Event prior to the Ask Event?

Asking yourself these critical questions before your event can make a big difference in its success.