A few years ago, I had the pleasure of working with Tess Nixon Spiller. She wrote this blog at the time and when I first read it, it felt to me she was a magician who had just lifted the lid on their most successful magic trick. It just blew me away… “so that is how fundraisers do it!”
Tess writes: “If I had a pound for every fundraiser who tells me their CEO (or Vice Chancellor, or Chair of the board) doesn’t want to ask… well, I’d have a pretty full purse! What’s behind this? Fear, probably. And the problem is: asking isn’t an option. If you want to raise serious funds from the seriously rich your CEO needs to get comfortable and get asking.
“I think a great solution is ensuring, in so far as possible, that the answer to their brave ask will be ‘yes’ (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed). What if you could line up happy donors, ready to be asked, and give your CEO great insight into how to ask, what the hooks are, how much to ask for, and feel really confident that the donor is ready and happy to have this conversation?
Tess explains all in this blog.
Propper Fundraising 
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