Yours for the Asking - by Reynold Levy

Book Synopsis

Learn how to power up your fundraising-from Reynold Levy, the master of fundraising

Drawing on his experience in raising over one billion dollars in six years as President of Lincoln Center, Reynold Levy has written the ultimate insider's guide to asking for and receiving funds. Rich with insights and invaluable advice from Levy's own lessons learned, this powerful book is for you, whether your organization is concerned with health, education, the arts, or humanitarian causes, a think tank or advocacy group, established or fledgling. Insightful, creative, and humorous, Yours for the Asking draws back the curtain to disclose Levy's secrets of success and reveals how you can:

• Tap into the resources of donors, large and small, for your institution or cause
• Reach wealthy people and successfully bring home the bacon
• Put aside fears, qualms, and hesitancies and confidently ask for funds
• Locate the intersection between the interests of business and the needs of your nonprofit organization
• Solve the mystery of fundraising from foundations
• Explore your organization's future in fundraising and discern its long-term trends
• Learn the best ways to combat the adverse impact of a wide, deep, and prolonged recession

Yours for the Asking will transform your view of fundraising from a dreaded aspect of your job to a high calling, from "pleading" for money to helping donors find pleasure in advancing social causes and strengthening key nonprofit institutions. Affluence and generosity abound. It's all yours-for the asking.

From the Back Cover

Most of us, when placed in a position to ask for a contribution--even for a very worthy cause--are uncomfortable doing so. But Americans give habitually to organizations and causes they care about. People, corporations, and foundations donate funds largely because they are asked to do so.

So why aren't you asking? And how can you do so more easily, more persuasively, and, even, more enjoyably?

The must-read, must-own guide to raising funds in the twenty-first century, Yours for the Asking will greatly enhance your effectiveness and confidence in fundraising. Drawing on his experience in raising over one billion dollars in six years as President of Lincoln Center, Reynold Levy has written the ultimate insider's guide to asking for and receiving funds.

Rich with insights and invaluable advice from Dr. Levy's own lessons learned, this powerful book is intended for anyone involved in the fundraising process--nonprofit executives, development staff, trustees, fundraising consultants, board members, or volunteers. Whether your organization is concerned with health, education, the arts, human affairs, research, or advocacy groups, established or fledgling, Yours for the Asking draws back the curtain to disclose Dr. Levy's secrets of success and reveals how you can:

• Tap into the resources of donors, large and small, for your institution or cause
• Reach wealthy people--face-to-face, in writing, in large groups, at special events, or over the Internet--and successfully bring home the bacon
• Put aside fears, qualms, and hesitancies and confidently ask for funds
• Locate the intersection between the interests of business and the needs of your nonprofit organization
• Solve the mystery of fundraising from foundations
• Explore your organization's future in fundraising and discern its long-term trends

This hands-on guide is written out of a conviction that those charged with the privilege of raising funds can do better. Much better. Filled with countless examples, case studies, sample letters, and illustrative materials, Yours for the Asking will transform your view of fundraising from a dreaded task to a high calling, from "pleading" for money to helping donors find pleasure in advancing social causes and strengthening key nonprofit institutions.

Affluence and generosity abound. It's all yours--for the asking.

Review Quotes

"Put simply, fundraising is nothing more than salesmanship. It's persuasiveness at work. It's a performing art." (Directors & Boards, Third Quarter 2009)

"Reynold Levy offers a straightforward, on-target approach to virtually every fundraising concern, including those experienced in tough economic times." (Arts Management, Jan-Feb 2009)

"Most fundraisers are uncomfortable asking for money, despite the fact that they are soliciting funds for worthy causes. However, author Reynold Levy makes the case that not only do individuals, corporations and foundations give money to organizations and causes they care about, they do so because they are asked. In addition, despite the current economic crisis, Americans continue to enjoy staggering wealth, and the wealthy can comfortably increase the amount they now give to charity without depriving themselves. All it takes is a disciplined and creative approach to soliciting those funds. This book shows you how." (CausePlanet.org; 11/08)

"Reynold Levy, could not have predicted the economic climate into which his new book would land. But "Yours for the Asking" now seems eerily prescient - particularly which chapters like "Fund-Raising in Stormy Weather" and "Overcoming Economic Bad News and Psychological Resistance". Regarding tough times, Mr. Levy asserts in the book that affluent people donate more from their assets than their income, leaving their contributions less vulnerable to a downturn." Moreover, worthy causes remain worthy, Mr. Levy said in an interview, no matter what the current state of world." (The New York Times; 11/11/08)

"Reynold Levy, a veteran fund raiser and former grant maker whose new book is called Yours for the Asking, argues that even in a troubled economy, a lot of people still have the resources to give generously.... His new guide seeks to reverse their discomfort and create an army of solicitors with the gumption to go after the stockpiles of money that Mr. Levy says are readily available." (The Chronicle of Philanthropy, November 27, 2008)

"The real value of Levy's work lies in his ability to demystify the process of fund-raising and his personal touch that will appeal to those seeking funding..." (Library Journal XpressReviews, 10/7/08)

"...I found Levy's stories, suggestions, tips, and philosophy completely applicable to any nonprofit, large or small, high flying or grassroots. What did I like most about Levy's book? It is hard to pick out just a few favorite parts, but I read with fascination about how a fabulous event was put together; welcomed Levy's thoughts about the worth of soliciting the small businesses that surround one's organization; and appreciated his thoughts about e-philanthropy." (About.com, 9/19/08)

About the Author

DR. REYNOLD LEVY has been the President of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts since 2002. His leadership at Lincoln Center continues a distinguished career of public service in which he has served as president of the International Rescue Committee; senior officer of AT&T in charge of government relations; president of the AT&T Foundation; executive director of the 92^nd Street Y; and staff director of the Task Force on the New York City Fiscal Crisis. He has published two books, Give and Take: A Candid Account of Corporate Philanthropy and Nearing the Crossroads: Contending Approaches to Contemporary American Foreign Policy. He writes and speaks widely about philanthropy, the performing arts, humanitarian causes and issues, and the leadership and management of nonprofit institutions. His most recent of many teaching affiliations has been as Senior Lecturer at the Harvard Business School.