The Team | Asking Matters

Brian Saber

Asking Style: Kindred Spirit

Brian spent his entire career ASKING for money for non-profits. From his early days as a student leader and telethon caller (!) to his six years in charge of major and principal gifts throughout the Midwest for Brandeis University, to his two stints as an executive director, every position involved significant face-to-face solicitation. And he is still honing that art today, cultivating and soliciting select major donors for various clients.

Brian harnessed all that frontline experience to become a sought-after trainer, coach and consultant around the country and abroad. His work is transformative. He develops major gift programs, conducts campaign feasibility studies, creates training courses, and coaches top-level staff, taking organizations to the next level.

Having spent most of his career with organizations having budgets under $10 million, Brian is well aware of the fundraising challenges smaller organizations face. He knows that most organizations can’t afford consulting services, or even a half-day training by a professional. It’s just not in the budget.

With that perspective, Brian created a resource that all non-profits could afford. With his cofounder, Andrea Kihlstedt, Brian built Asking Matters – a web-based company that trains people how to ask for money and motivates them to do it! As the least expensive and best quality resource in the field he promises that Asking Matters will help countless organizations continue to do incredible work for their causes.

Twitter: @BrianSaber
Facebook: Brian Saber
LinkedIn: Brian Saber

Andrea Kihlstedt

Asking Style: Go Getter

Andrea Kihlstedt is well known as a writer, coach and trainer in fundraising. Over the past 28 years, her clients have ranged from tiny start-up organizations to large national institutions. She has guided and goaded each of them to create the culture and context that will inspire people to ask. And her clients have often succeeded in raising more money than they had thought possible. Andrea has written two books on fundraising. The first, Capital Campaigns, Strategies that Work (Jones & Bartlett) is now in its third edition and has become a standard reference for organizations large and small. Her new book, How to Raise $1 Million (or More) in Ten Bite Size Steps (Emerson & Church) takes the lessons of the first book and boils them down into small nuggets punctuated by real-world stories. [email protected]

The Asking Matters Team

Accountant: Gary Ziffer, CPA
Administrator: Amy Rubel
Attorneys: Keith Marlowe, Brown, Moskowitz, & Kallen
Business Strategist: Catherine Lazen
Designers: Kurt for Hire, Willa Tracosas
Social Media Consultant: Sheeri Avrahami
Web Developers: Bob Matsuoka, Mokamedia; Kurt Bigenho, Kurt for Hire
Web/New Media Consultant: Brian Brolin

Partial Client List

American Society of Botanical Artists
Children’s Brain Tumor Foundation
CityClub
Human Rhythm Project
JVS Detroit
League of Chicago Theaters
National Dance Institute
National Public Radio
National School Boards Association
Northwestern University Settlement
Open Hand Chicago
Prevent Child Abuse America
Social Venture Partners International
Staten Island Arts
Staten Island Not for Profit Conference
Torah Umesorah
Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Brooklyn Bar Association