Q: We are preparing to do our first Ask Event^™ after six months of Point of Entry^® Events. We are a very small organization with a small donor base. We are inaugurating our Multiple-Year Giving Society^™ at the upcoming Ask Event, and therefore, this is the year people can become founding members.

We have learned that our two largest donors will both be out of town and unable to host a table or even attend the breakfast. How can we give them the opportunity to become founding members in the society? Should I meet with them individually when they return to town to show them the video and explain the society? Or should I just send them a special letter?

Also, how should we open the opportunity to be founding members to other donors who are not at the breakfast? I am considering doing a special letter to twenty-five to thirty donors who I think may be interested.

Betty in Arizona

A: For your two largest donors who cannot attend the Ask Event, you should meet with them one-on-one to show them the video and explain the new Multiple-Year Giving Society launched at the event. You can invite them to make a long-term commitment to your organization by joining the society at whatever level they wish.

For the other donors that you mention, you should do your best to get as many of them to the Ask Event as possible, either by having a Table Captain who knows them personally invite them or by using our Secondary Invitation Strategy. (See the "Making Sure Everyone Gets Invited" section near the end of a feature we published called Filling Tables at the Ask Event.)

For each donor that has a conflict and cannot attend the event, I would recommend an individual meeting rather than a letter. As long as these donors have been sufficiently cultivated and involved, one-on-one meetings will be much more effective in gaining support for your society than letters.

Terry