Concern #1
"We want to skip over Point of Entry^® Events and rush right to the Ask Event^™ because: we need the money right away; we don't have several months to build up to the Ask Event; or the whole Point of Entry process slows us down."

Benevon's response
This is not a model for getting fast money. Use your golf tournament and other existing fundraising events to do that. If you are committed to building long-term relationships with your donors and ultimately building sustainable funding, you can't skip over the basics. The Point of Entry is the basis of the model. It would be like trying to heat your house without a furnace or pick the fruit off a tree you never watered. You must do a Point of Entry Event at least once a month for the rest of your organization's life if you are planning to implement the model correctly.

Postpone your first Ask Event until you have held enough Point of Entry Events so that a minimum of 20% (more would be better) of the guests at your Ask Event will have attended a prior Point of Entry. We've learned that Ask Event guests who attended a prior Point of Entry give significantly more money than those who never attended a Point of Entry. Think about that as you plan your Point of Entry Events. You are building something long-term.

Concern #2
"We already have plenty of people who know about us, so they wouldn't see why they should come to a Point of Entry Event."

Benevon's response
Those are precisely the people to start with—the ones who already know and love you, like your board members. Invite them to what we call a "kick-the-tires" Point of Entry. Tell them that you need critical feedback from loyal insiders before you launch this to the public.

Make your Point of Entry great! Weave together the facts and emotional stories that engage people with your mission and your unmet needs. You want them to leave the Point of Entry having been deeply moved by your work—even though they already knew about it—and stirred to take action. After the Point of Entry, follow up right away to debrief with them. Really listen to what they are telling you, and do your best to incorporate their suggestions into a revised Point of Entry format. After all, these people love you. They are probably being more open and honest with you than newcomers would be. You are fortunate to have
them.

As for the non-board members who already know you, they are precisely the people to invite to host or attend Point of Entry Events. Work backwards from your Ask Event and identify the people you would most like to have as Table Captains. Call these people first and invite them to a Point of Entry. You can even tell them you are planning to invite others they know to that same Point of Entry. Let them get excited about it with you. They may have additional people to invite as well. Many of these people may end up sitting at their host's table at the Ask Event several months down the road.

Make your Follow-Up Calls diligently after the Point of Entry to learn what people really thought of the event. You will need to continually tweak and refine your Point of Entry for the first year or longer until it sizzles consistently every single time. You are not the best judge of the sizzle; the attendees are. You need their feedback. Plus, they may have many other people in mind to invite to subsequent Point of Entry Events, once they see it and get reconnected.

Bottom line, most organizations do not need new donors. They just need to powerfully reconnect with the donors they already have. After all, they gave to you once or more because, at some level, they believe in your work. Imagine what more they could contribute if they experienced your stellar Point of Entry Event firsthand.

Concern #3
"Some of the people we plan to invite to the Ask Event are busy, high-level people in the community. We will be lucky if we can get them to come to one event at all, so we should focus on having them come to the Ask Event, because that's where they will give us money."

Benevon's response
If you have to choose between inviting these high-level people to an Ask Event or a Point of Entry, choose the Point of Entry. Put on a special one-on-one Point of Entry for each high-level person if necessary. Ideally, have their friend who was planning to invite them to sit at their table at the Ask Event attend the Point of Entry with them. Even if the high-level person never attends an Ask Event, you can follow up and continue to cultivate them so that ultimately they could make a larger contribution, like a leadership or challenge gift. And, you never know, after attending your sizzling Point of Entry, they may "find" the time to come to the Ask Event.

Concern #4
"We don't have the staff resources to organize and plan the monthly Point of Entry Events that the model requires."

Benevon's response
Once you have designed your Point of Entry, you don't change it. It should become so routine and repeatable that you could, figuratively speaking, put all the ingredients in a box and pull the box out of the closet on the morning of a Point of Entry and go. It takes three people from your team to put on a great Point of Entry: your Visionary Leader^™ (that's the executive director or CEO), the development director or a volunteer who can attend every Point of Entry and make the Follow-Up Calls, and someone to provide a live testimonial (often a staff person or a former client who is willing to tell their story). The Visionary Leader only needs to attend the Point of Entry for the first ten to fifteen minutes to greet people and to talk for five to seven minutes at the beginning of the program, sharing their personal connection to the mission and their vision for the future of the organization.

Having said that, we have implemented the model at many organizations that have absolutely no paid staff. They have figured out how to do all of the above with dedicated volunteers and have gone on to raise large amounts of money and build long-term support.

Concern #5
"We don't have anything compelling to show people if they were to come here on a tour! We don't have cute kids or an Emotional Hook^™. Our work is: confidential; not based in this office; not based in an office at all; spread over a large region; or difficult to explain to people (like policy work, advocacy, community development, or international aid). We don't even know where to hold our Point of Entry Events."

Benevon's response
This is probably the most honest reason groups skip over Point of Entry Events and rush to the Ask Event. They don't know how to craft their story in a compelling way. They don't know what they would show people if they were to come to a Point of Entry. It may not be obvious, but there is an Emotional Hook for every single organization, even yours. We have worked with groups with some of the most complex missions you can imagine—groups that do not work with people or animals or provide services that most people would even understand. We have worked with scientific research groups, mathematical groups, think tanks, land trusts, groups that do very high-level policy work—and they all want to build long-term financial support.

My second book, The Point of Entry Handbook, delineates many of these more challenging Point of Entry scenarios. We spend a lot of time at our two-day workshops helping groups craft what we call the Essential Story^™. They tell us that this is one of the most important things they take away from the workshop.

Sooner or later, if you plan to build sustainable funding, you will need to tackle this issue. Even groups who do have the cute kids and a more obvious Emotional Hook tell us they found great value in having our coaches work with them to tell their stories in the most compelling way.

For those organizations spread over a large region, we recommend that you design, test, and retest the Point of Entry in one main location (nearest to where the core team lives) before you take it on the road. When you do take it on the road, the challenge is having a group of supporters in those outlying areas to help you put on and invite people to your Point of Entry Events in their community. Begin first in the place where you live, since you are the person who is motivated to implement the model.

Concern #6
"Where would we find the people to come to our Point of Entry Events? We've asked our board members to invite people to other things, and they don't like doing it. Even if a few board members would invite their friends, we would quickly run out of people to invite."

Benevon's response
Relying on the board to invite people to events is "old-reality" thinking. Board members did not join your board to constantly "hit up" their friends. Once you begin treating your board members as if they are your most cherished major donors, you will quickly stop relying on them to do your work for you.

The place to look for a steady stream of people to attend your Point of Entry Events is your organization's Treasure Map^®. This is not an optional little gimmick in the model. It is the deepest well of supporters and potential supporters to draw from and is unique to your organization. You must make a Treasure Map for your group and update it quarterly because new resources will naturally come your way as you use the model.

Concern #7
"Our executive director or CEO is too busy to attend our Point of Entry Events and/or is not a good speaker."

Benevon's response
Your concerns are valid, but your executive director only needs to spend ten to fifteen minutes a month at a Point of Entry (see #4 above). They must be there and they must speak. Even if this person is a dry speaker, people need to hear from the leader of the organization. If your CEO is particularly shy or reticent about speaking, you can reduce their role to a minute or two of welcoming the guests and telling their personal story about why they chose to come to this particular organization, what keeps them there, and what their dreams are for the future. Then they can turn the rest of the talk over to another high-level staff person or longtime board member to briefly touch on the "past, present, and future" of the organization.

Concern #8
"We can't get anyone to do live testimonials because our work is too confidential or our testimonial people would be children or adults who are too busy to attend."

Benevon's response
Testimonial stories are essential at a Point of Entry, but they do not need to be told by a live person every time. Many groups use program staff who read a thank-you letter from a grateful client or family member. Others have stories recorded on audio tape that are played during the sit-down portion of their Point of Entry. Some groups with small or non-existent offices do virtual tours where the guests stay in one room and turn in different directions to see photo displays and hear audio tape recordings from staff who may be out working for the day. There are many alternatives to live testimonials.

Concern #9
"We already put on too many other events; we can't possibly take on more."

Benevon's response
Take a closer look at those other events—both the "entertainment" events like golf tournaments and galas as well as the more mission-focused events like graduations and awards/recognition ceremonies. Tell the truth about what they are really bringing you. Use our soul-searching questions (see The Point of Entry Handbook) as a screening test to see if you are ready to stop the more labor-intensive, less productive events.

Then, from the list that remains, consider converting each of these existing events into what we call a Point of Entry Conversion Event. This way, if you are going to take your valuable time to put on the event, you will at least know that it is educating and inspiring people about your mission. (See The Point of Entry Handbook for instructions on this.)

Even if you insert a mini-Point of Entry into your existing events, there is no substitute for putting on true Point of Entry Events. They are the only way to sustain the model long-term. Your best bet is to offload some of your other activities so you can focus on designing and refining a fabulous, durable Point of Entry or else find a group of volunteers who will take on managing the Point of Entry system for you continually.

Concern #10
"Who would do the Follow-Up Calls after the Point of Entry Events? We don't have anyone with the time it would take to do those on a regular basis."

Benevon's response
Don't bother doing even one Point of Entry Event if you are not planning on doing the Follow-Up Calls afterwards. They are the only way to begin a true dialog with these potential donors. The Follow-Up Call must be made by a person the guest met at the Point of Entry (but not their friend who invited them). If you are too busy to do the calls yourself, have the same high-level volunteer who has committed to attend each monthly Point of Entry make them.

Also, consider offloading or delegating to volunteers some of the work you are now doing so that you could take on making the Follow-Up Calls yourself. These are where the gems show up. Once you have a few of these conversations, you will realize they are the most satisfying (and often productive) part of the model.

Regardless of whether you or a volunteer makes all the Follow-Up Calls, don't have more than two to three people total making these calls. Their internal "rating scale" must be very consistent to help gauge people's level of interest in moving forward with your organization down the Cultivation Superhighway^™ and to be consistent in deciding whether to Bless and Release someone.

Conclusion
As we end this series for self-implementers, I encourage you to be bold within your organization. You see the longer-term value of this mission-based approach. Once others in your organization understand it, they will ultimately want to adopt this approach as well.

Think about the legacy you want to leave—you won't be at your organization forever. Leaving a self-generating team that has been formally trained and coached to implement the Benevon Model over time could be the most powerful legacy you leave.

Imagine how good you would feel to come back several years later and see the organization thriving and no longer suffering. You would know that you—as that one lone self-implementer—had a hand in starting them on the path to sustainable funding.