Bill Fryman

Why do people give? Because they are asked. Why do they give the amount they give? Because that’s the amount they are asked for.

These are two basic principles that Katherine Swank, a consultant with Blackbaud’s Target Analytics, encouraged attendees at Blackbaud’s 2008 Conference for Nonprofits held last month to accept as the truth.

Swank said that the trick during a recession is to keep asking, and to ask for the right amount. The key to asking for the right amount is knowing your constituency and pinpointing which prospects have the greatest giving potential, she said.