It shouldn't come as a surprise, but one of the most important aspects of having a successful Ask Event^™ is getting the right people in the door. The following are some essential tips on making sure every table at the Ask Event is full, from effectively dealing with Table Captains to VIP invitations.

Script for Table Captains to Use When Inviting Guests

Because you will be relying so heavily on your Table Captains to invite each guest and to convey the mission-centered, no-pressure atmosphere of the Ask Event, it is essential that each Table Captain follow the same script as they invite people:

"Hello, __________, I'd like to invite you to join me at my table at the ________ event. This is a free breakfast for people to come and learn more about our organization. Yes, it is a fundraiser, too. You will be asked to consider making a contribution. There is no minimum and no maximum gift requested. It will be the job of the organization to inspire people to want to give. As much as anything, we want people to come and find out about the great programs offered. I would be delighted if you could join me."

Be sure to stress to your Table Captains the importance of telling people in advance that they will be asked for money at the event, but that there is no obligation to give. (Recall that only 40–50% of the guests will give at the Ask Event; these numbers demonstrate that there will be no pressure to give. Over 50% of the guests will give no money at all on the day of the event.)

Filling Tables

The Table Captains' focus during the ten weeks between the kick-off meeting and the Ask Event should be on filling their tables and inviting their potential guests to Point of Entry^® Events. Some Table Captains will get right to work after the kick-off and have their tables filled two months before the event—they may even jump in and offer to host a Point of Entry for their friends—others will take their time, and at least 15% will not do anything at all.

This process can be frustrating for seasoned event planners accustomed to controlling every aspect of an event, because so much is riding on its success. Unlike traditional fundraising events where guests are invited via formal invitations with a centralized RSVP process, the success of the Free One-Hour Ask Event^™ is due primarily to the power of the personal invitation, delivered by word-of-mouth, in-person, on the telephone, or in a personal e-mail from a trusted friend.

Once you realize the extent to which you will be relying on your Table Captains, you will see why it is worth taking great care to select the very best people to fill this role.

Having said that, this does not mean that the event coordinator and others planning the event should back away from the invitation process; in fact, quite the opposite is true. Your job is to manage the invitation and table-filling process, albeit somewhat indirectly.

Weekly Communication with Table Captains

We recommend you have one person accountable for communicating with all your Table Captains weekly. Most groups do this by e-mail. They put out some type of informal weekly newsletter-style "event countdown" update or just send a personal e-mail from the event coordinator, copying all the Table Captains. This includes news about the program, the venue, your new video, the people who have agreed to be testimonial speakers at the event, and the like. Each update should start off with the number of weeks left until the event and the number of weeks until their guest lists are due. Keep stressing this guest list deadline in all of your materials.

Save-the-Date Cards

During this time, Table Captains should be sending out the Save-the-Date cards provided in their Table Captain packets. Some organizations prefer to manage the Save-the-Date card process centrally as a way to have a clearer sense of the total number of guests invited to date. This central management also gives the event coordinator a reason to call the Table Captains periodically to ask if there is anyone a Save-the-Date card should be mailed to.

If your planning has taken into consideration the 15% Table Captain attrition and 15% guest attrition rates, and you have recruited passionate Table Captains (with a maximum of 10% staff members as Table Captains), the process should work according to the recipe. You should be able to trust your Table Captains to manage sending out the Save-the-Date cards you have provided them—with personal notes to each guest—and to submit their guest lists to you, according to the timeline, three weeks before the event.

Three Weeks Out: Final Table Captain Lists Due

Hold firm to this deadline. Require your Table Captains to submit whatever list they have twenty-one days before the event, even if their table is only partially full. This information will allow you to take stock of how much work is yet to be done with slower Table Captains and to get that work done.

On the twentieth day before your event, call every Table Captain who submitted only a partial list or no list at all. Ask the hard questions to determine how many guests they will actually have at the event. Factor a 15–20% attrition rate into the numbers they tell you. Begin looking at how you can consolidate tables. Rather than have struggling Table Captains back away from the job altogether, ask if they can fill half a table. Offer to pair them with another Table Captain they may know.

If they say they do not want to be a Table Captain at all, Bless and Release them graciously, invite them to attend the event anyway, and offer to seat them with someone else they know or at one of the VIP tables that your organization will be putting together (see below). After all, if they cared enough to have agreed to be a Table Captain originally, they wouldn't want to miss the event themselves!

As the lists arrive, begin entering the guest names and contact information into your database tracking system to cut down on work after the event.

Making Sure Everyone Gets Invited

By now, some of you may be wondering, "What about all the people who might not be invited by a Table Captain?" This is an important question.

To be sure that no one who would like to attend the event is inadvertently excluded, make a list of these key people, including all prior Point of Entry guests, prior donors, former board members, volunteers, corporate sponsors, and anyone else in the community who has asked to learn more.

Next, have your board and staff members review this list to determine the best person to call each of these guests. This inviter should be someone with whom the guest has a personal relationship. Then have the identified inviters invite the guests on their lists by following the same process as the Table Captain process: telephone or in-person invitation, Save-the-Date card mailed, and reminder call made two to three days before the event.

At the event, these special people can be seated in various places:

• At staff or board tables (it is fine for them to fill more than one table)
• At a special VIP table
• Matched up with someone they know
• At tables where a Table Captain is having difficulty filling his/her table (be sure to tell the Table Captain that this guest will be joining them)

This way, your Table Captains will provide you with a solid base of guests for the event, and you will also ensure that everyone else who has an interest in your organization receives an invitation.