Making the Ask Masterclass

All fundraisers need to make solicitations - Asks - in person, in writing, on the phone or even on Zoom to major donors, to corporations, and to foundations. The experience is high risk but with the potential for high pay off - if you manage the process effectively. Learn the secrets to solicitation success in this masterclass.

This interactive and intensive in-person Masterclass will introduce you to a systematic 5 step process that has helped theatres, opera companies, art galleries, museums and more to secure significant funds in single gifts. It has also helped Edinburgh Zoo to up individual giving from £20K to £1.3M, Paisley Museum to secure £50M for a rebuild, and MEF dinosaur museum in Argentina to meet its $5M target.

You’ll find out about the five key systematic steps that will structure your prospect engagement:

• Passion - creating the correct emotional state
• Proposition - shaping your idea to make it easy to understand
• Preparation - getting ready to meet an individual and anticipating challenges
• Persuasion - adjusting to another’s communications and decision preferences
• Persistence - handling challenges and objections

Within these five steps are 20 innovative tools drawn from psychology and neuroscience that will enable you to win people over to your cause in high payoff one to situations. These tools will enable you to move way beyond old-fashioned mechanistic Moves Management.

Specifically, you’ll learn:

• How to get yourself and your prospect into the ideal mindset for a gift
• Becoming a philanthropic pharmacist- stimulating a donor’s altruism addiction
• Shaping your case for support using four key frameworks
• Building rapport with challenging prospects
• Pricing your philanthropic propositions effectively
• Responding to the 9 Nos that donors share

How you’ll learn

The Masterclass will involve a range of learning opportunities:

• Engaging input
• Case studies
• Small group exercises
• Individual exercises
• Question time

The session is based on the #1 Amazon best-selling book Making the Ask by Bernard Ross and Clare Segal.

What will you learn?

The session will help participants to:

• build confidence and capacity in asking major donors for substantial support.
• understand the key elements and tools to use in a successful solicitation.
• practice these skills – listening, understanding, handling objections, and building rapport.

Who is it for?

Fundraising professionals, marketing executives and CEOs within small, medium and major arts and cultural organisations. Anyone who’s ready to move beyond existing ‘best practice’ and explore leading edge approaches will benefit.

Zak Mensah, Co-CEO Birmingham Museums

NOTE: The venue is a placeholder. This event will take place in a Central Edinburgh venue to be announced.

Host or Publisher Culture & Business Scotland