Asking Properly is almost certainly the most authoritative book ever written about the creative aspects of fundraising. It is no mere commentary on current practice - if offers a comprehensive checklist on how to optimise the creative presentation of the fundraising message. This book will prove invaluable to anyone involved in raising money for charity.
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. Learn more. |
Book Description
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Review
It's wise, uncomprising, devastingly critical of poor fundraising, brilliantly illustrative of what is good... -- Pierre-Bernard Le Bas, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland
There's a practical benefit on every page. When you apply its secrets you can hardly fail to improve your fundraising. -- Harvey mcKinnon, Harvey McKinnon & Associates, Vancouver,Canada
There's a practical benefit on every page. When you apply its secrets you can hardly fail to improve your fundraising. -- Harvey mcKinnon, Harvey McKinnon & Associates, Vancouver,Canada
From the Publisher
When we reprinted Asking Properly our first thought was to revise and update it, given that it first appeared in 1996. But on reflection that proved to be both impractical and unnecessary. So please don’t be distracted by examples from the recent past or by statistics that may now have been surpassed. Just enjoy the brilliant words, the well-chosen illustrations and the instructive anecdotes. And benefit from this fine depiction of the art and craft of fundraising which time has shown to be not just instructive and enduring, but quite remarkably prophetic.
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By C. Hulme
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Essential - timeless wisdom. Full of candour and humour.
George's warning of our 'dreadful ability to worship formulae rather than content' is as true today as the day he wrote them. Whether your medium was/is mail or email, pound pack or SMS, the fundamental principles of asking properly don't change.
George frequently offers both practical guidance and illuminating inspiration (often within a single sentence) that all of us in the sector should heed. At a time that attrition is hovering at the 50% mark his insistance on focusing on what the donor wants is crucial.
'Asking Properly' is a rare treat; an absolute master of his craft honestly sharing experience and (well entitled) opinion on the art of fundraising.
A strong theme that runs throughout is that 'all fundraising copy should sound like someone talking'. It's worth taking a moment to review whatever you're working on and ask if it measures up to this maxim.
And one other maxim that I love, 'If your client or boss is comfortable with the copy it is probably under achieving'.
Thank you George.
George's warning of our 'dreadful ability to worship formulae rather than content' is as true today as the day he wrote them. Whether your medium was/is mail or email, pound pack or SMS, the fundamental principles of asking properly don't change.
George frequently offers both practical guidance and illuminating inspiration (often within a single sentence) that all of us in the sector should heed. At a time that attrition is hovering at the 50% mark his insistance on focusing on what the donor wants is crucial.
'Asking Properly' is a rare treat; an absolute master of his craft honestly sharing experience and (well entitled) opinion on the art of fundraising.
A strong theme that runs throughout is that 'all fundraising copy should sound like someone talking'. It's worth taking a moment to review whatever you're working on and ask if it measures up to this maxim.
And one other maxim that I love, 'If your client or boss is comfortable with the copy it is probably under achieving'.
Thank you George.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Ken Burnett
Format:Hardcover
This is undoubtedly the best book ever written on the subject of creativity in fundraising and communication. A short list, admittedly, but an important subject nonetheless. OK, I confess to some bias here as George Smith is a lifelong friend and I do own The White Lion Press Limited, his publisher. But if you want to see lots of other independent reviews of this timeless classic go to their site on line. You'll see a common consensus that this is one book no serious fundraiser should be without.
George Smith is world famous as a witty, perceptive observer of voluntary action and a precise, concise and captivating writer. He senses the beaming ghost of Orwell peering over his shoulder as he writes. So Asking Properly is an entertaining read from start to finish. But its 220 brightly illustrated pages add up to much more than that, built as this seminal book is upon anecdotes and experiences from more than three decades of engineering and crafting many of the best fundraising and social change campaigns of our times. Smith is an accomplished and rigorous guide, who frequently stops his readers in their tracks, forcing them to reconsider long-held views that he effortlessly exposes as ill-conceived or just plain wrong. As former UNICEF fundraising supremo PB Le Bas said of it, `Asking Properly is one of those very few books you will want to keep beside you, for life.'
Ken Burnett
Relationship Fundraising: A Donor-based Approach to the Business of Raising Money (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series)
The Zen of Fundraising: 89 Timeless Ideas to Strengthen and Develop Your Donor Relationships
George Smith is world famous as a witty, perceptive observer of voluntary action and a precise, concise and captivating writer. He senses the beaming ghost of Orwell peering over his shoulder as he writes. So Asking Properly is an entertaining read from start to finish. But its 220 brightly illustrated pages add up to much more than that, built as this seminal book is upon anecdotes and experiences from more than three decades of engineering and crafting many of the best fundraising and social change campaigns of our times. Smith is an accomplished and rigorous guide, who frequently stops his readers in their tracks, forcing them to reconsider long-held views that he effortlessly exposes as ill-conceived or just plain wrong. As former UNICEF fundraising supremo PB Le Bas said of it, `Asking Properly is one of those very few books you will want to keep beside you, for life.'
Ken Burnett
Relationship Fundraising: A Donor-based Approach to the Business of Raising Money (Jossey-Bass Nonprofit and Public Management Series)
The Zen of Fundraising: 89 Timeless Ideas to Strengthen and Develop Your Donor Relationships
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply, the best
13 Sep 2009
By Ken Burnett
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
This is undoubtedly the best book ever written on the subject of creativity in fundraising and communication. A short list, admittedly, but an important subject nonetheless. OK, I confess to some bias here as George Smith is a lifelong friend and I do own The White Lion Press Limited, his publisher. But if you want to see lots of other independent reviews of this timeless classic go to their site on line ([...]). You'll see a common consensus that this is one book no serious fundraiser should be without.
George Smith is world famous as a witty, perceptive observer of voluntary action and a precise, concise and captivating writer. He senses the beaming ghost of Orwell peering over his shoulder as he writes. So Asking Properly is an entertaining read from start to finish. But its 220 brightly illustrated pages add up to much more than that, built as this seminal book is upon anecdotes and experiences from more than three decades of engineering and crafting many of the best fundraising and social change campaigns of our times. Smith is an accomplished and rigorous guide, who frequently stops his readers in their tracks, forcing them to reconsider long-held views that he effortlessly exposes as ill-conceived or just plain wrong. As former UNICEF fundraising supremo PB Le Bas said of it, `Asking Properly is one of those very few books you will want to keep beside you, for life.'
Ken Burnett
[...]
George Smith is world famous as a witty, perceptive observer of voluntary action and a precise, concise and captivating writer. He senses the beaming ghost of Orwell peering over his shoulder as he writes. So Asking Properly is an entertaining read from start to finish. But its 220 brightly illustrated pages add up to much more than that, built as this seminal book is upon anecdotes and experiences from more than three decades of engineering and crafting many of the best fundraising and social change campaigns of our times. Smith is an accomplished and rigorous guide, who frequently stops his readers in their tracks, forcing them to reconsider long-held views that he effortlessly exposes as ill-conceived or just plain wrong. As former UNICEF fundraising supremo PB Le Bas said of it, `Asking Properly is one of those very few books you will want to keep beside you, for life.'
Ken Burnett
[...]
›
Go to Amazon.com to see the review
5.0 out of 5 stars
Was this review helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
