New Interactive Workshop! Stop Overthinking the Ask: A Step-by-Step Guide to One-to-One Fundraising

If You Register and Cannot Attend, You Will Get the Webinar Recording, Slides and Bonus Materials.

What do you actually say during a donor meeting? More importantly, what should you listen for. In this highly interactive workshop, participants build their own solicitation playbook while learning proven words and phrases that make conversations feel natural, identifying their solicitation style, recognizing donor cues, and practicing how to transition confidently into the ask. They leave with practical tools, greater confidence, and a personalized roadmap they can use in their very next donor meeting.

During This Nonprofit Webinar, You Will Learn:

• Identify your personal solicitation style so you can approach donor conversations in a way that feels natural, confident, and authentic.
• Learn conversation starters that feel authentic and help you open donor meetings with ease.
• Build a collection of proven phrases you can actually use during real donor conversations.
• Practice what to listen for beyond the words so you can identify opportunities hidden in dialogue.
• Recognize body language and donor signals that help you determine when to move toward the ask.
• Navigate common objections with confidence using simple, adaptable response frameworks.
• Build your own solicitation playbook throughout the session and leave with a personalized tool you can use immediately.

Workshop Activities:

• Identify your personal solicitation style through guided reflection.
• Respond to structured questions that shape your solicitation playbook.
• Analyze donor signals through real world examples.
• Build your own solicitation playbook during the session.
  • Identify your personal solicitation style through guided reflection. Reflect on your strengths, preferences, and areas where you may hesitate.
  • Respond to structured questions that shape your solicitation playbook. Explore what to say, ask, and listen for at each stage of the donor conversation.
  • Analyze donor signals through real world examples. Learn to recognize verbal and nonverbal cues that can help you know when to move toward the ask.
  • Build your own solicitation playbook throughout the session. Capture useful phrases, questions, donor signals, and responses you can use in future conversations

You’ll Get These BONUS Materials:

1. Pre-Meeting Preparation Checklist
2. Donor Meeting Planning Sheet
3. Post-Meeting Follow-Up Checklist
4. Conversation Debrief Notes Template
5. Extended Phrase Bank for Donor Conversations
6. Objection Response Practice Sheet
7. Solicitation Style Worksheet for Board Members, Volunteers, and Staff

About Your Topic Expert:

Lauren  is specifically qualified to teach this webinar because:

Lauren Swern is a nonprofit strategist, educator, and development leader with nearly twenty years of experience in fundraising, marketing, stewardship, communications, and donor engagement. She currently serves as Development Director for the New Jersey Highlands Coalition and has taught and developed more than 100 virtual training programs, while also building and managing the Nonprofit Certificate Program at County College of Morris, where she helped more than 500 adult learners enter and advance within the nonprofit sector. Her real-world experience includes preparing for and navigating one-to-one donor conversations, making direct asks, listening for donor interests and concerns, and helping board members, volunteers, and nonprofit professionals become more confident in face-to-face solicitation. Lauren is also an Expert Advisor for the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, a conference presenter, founder of the NJ Environmental Fundraisers Gathering, and a published author whose work has appeared in leading nonprofit publications.

If You Register and Cannot Attend, You Will Get the Webinar Recording, Slides and Bonus Materials.