Engaged Boards Will Fundraise!

Michael Davidson is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. His most recent books include Concerto for the Left Hand: Disability and the Defamiliar Body and Invalid Modernism: Disability and the Missing Body of the Aesthetic.

Brian Saber, president of Asking Matters(TM), has spent his entire career asking for money for nonprofits. 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 has involved significant face-to-face solicitation. He is still honing his asking muscles today, cultivating and soliciting select major donors for a variety of clients. Brian harnessed all his frontline experience to become a sought-after trainer, coach, and consultant around the country and abroad. His work is transformative. He leads workshops, creates training courses, presents webinars, and coaches top-level staff, taking organizations to the next level. In a career spent mostly with organizations having budgets under $1 million, Brian is well aware of the fundraising challenges smaller organizations face. He knows most organizations struggle to afford consulting services; they're just not in the budget. With that perspective, Brian co-created Asking Matters to provide resources all nonprofits could afford. This web-based and in-person company trains people how to ask for money and motivates them to do it. Brian has led training programs and presented at conferences for Prevent Child Abuse America, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Social Venture Partners International, National Public Radio, Volunteers of America, the United States Olympic Committee, The Salvation Army, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, AFP International, numerous AFP chapters, the North American YMCA Development Conference, and others. His first book, Asking Styles: Revolutionize Your Fundraising, has become a staple for nonprofit fundraisers and leaders.