Don’t Ask … Don’t Get

Dana Hines, president and CEO of St. Louis-based Membership Consultants, says she sees lots of organizations that simply are afraid to ask members — who already are giving by virtue of their membership fees — to give above and beyond those fees. Many don’t want to appear pushy and risk ticking off their members; others peg their members as being interested solely in the value of the membership package rather than as genuinely philanthropic individuals. And still others just don’t know how to ask.