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JOIN MAJOR GIFTS FUNDRAISING EXPERT, BETH ANN LOCKE FOR A NEW, LIVE WORKSHOP:

Signals First:
How to Read Donor Readiness and Make the Right Ask at the Right Time

Because the donor who's ready to give more is already telling you. Most fundraisers just haven't learned what to listen for — yet.

LIVE WORKSHOP:

Thursday, August 13th at 11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET

$47 investment includes live workshop & unlimited replay access. 

REGISTER NOW

The Critical “Soft Skill” Nobody Talks About that Makes or Breaks your Major Gifts Program:

The meeting is over.

And even though your donor said all the right things, you’re still not clear on your best next steps. 🤔

✅ They love your mission
✅ They believe in your work
✅ They show up to every event

Maybe they’ve even said, "I'd love to do more…"

But was that a signal? …Or were they just being nice?

And if it was a signal — now what?

Do you ask for $10,000? $25,000?

Just double whatever they gave last time and hope you didn't undersell it, or oversell it, or make it awkward?

Moving from a good relationship to a clear, appropriate Ask is where most fundraisers get stuck — and end up leaving money on the table.

Not because you don't care enough.

Not because you don't work hard enough.

And not because you’re not really good at your job.

But because nobody ever taught you what to actually listen for — or what to do next once you notice the signs your donor is ready to make a bigger gift.

That changes now.

Don’t mark another conversation as closed before reading this:

Before you let another "let me think about it" go unanswered...
Before you make the Ask too soon and watch a donor pull back...
Before you play it so safe you leave a bigger gift on the table...

STOP!

Let me show you a different way. Because if you’ve ever looked at a donor’s name and wondered:

  • “Was that a signal? Or was it just small talk?”
  • "How do I know what the next appropriate level is for an ask?"
  • "What's the actual language for asking for the meeting itself?"
  • "They pledged... and then went quiet on me. How do I follow up?"
  • "Is it too soon — or too late — to bring up another gift?"

You are not alone.

Most fundraisers are fluent in relationship-building and fluent in the Ask.

But the moment in between, where you read what's happening and choose your next move?

Nobody trains you for that.

That’s why I'm about to.

In this instantly actionable 60-minute workshop, you’ll discover:

  • The spoken AND unspoken signals donors are sending you in your Discovery Calls, on thank you calls and at events — plus, what they’re telling you about their capacity and connection to your organization
  • Creative, relationship-deepening moves that close bigger gifts (including real examples). So that instead of a transactional thank you that leaves your relationships in limbo, you're inspiring donors to give more.

  •  A repeatable process for identifying the right time, the right number and the right words for your next Ask. Close your next gift with confidence thanks to the proven strategies and authentic scripts I’ll share. 

  • Plus: See me coach real fundraisers on real donor situations, in real time, so you have concrete examples of what all this looks like in practice and you can apply these strategies the same day.

By the end, you’ll know exactly what to ask for, and exactly when to ask it, to close bigger gifts — even if the idea of talking about money makes you squirm.

This brand new workshop is taking place live, on
Thursday, August 13th, at 11am PT / 2pm ET.

Don’t scroll away without saving your seat:

REGISTER NOW

Registration includes live workshop + unlimited replay access. You’ll receive a calendar invitation and instructions on how to prepare as soon as you sign up.

Hi, I’m Beth Ann Locke

I spent 30 years as a frontline fundraiser before transitioning to coaching fundraisers on how to close more major gifts.

I’ve personally raised more than $75 million dollars for organizations ranging from universities to hospitals, from the arts to human services, in both the US and Canada.

Here's what I know after all that time:

The biggest gifts never come from the donor you convinced. They come from the conversations where you actually connect.

If you've ever sat across from a donor thinking, "Is this a $10,000 conversation or a $25,000 conversation?" that's not a gap in your talent.

It's a gap in what anyone's ever taught you to listen for. That's the exact question this workshop is built to answer.

From $2,500 donation to a $50,000 gift — and she didn’t even make an Ask!

One of my clients had a donor who wanted to make a $2,500 graduation award in memory of his late wife.

She could have just thanked him and moved on to another name on her list.

Instead, she invited him to the high school graduation ceremony.

Then, she pulled the yearbooks from the years his wife had attended and put together a keepsake for him.

She never asked for anything more.

He called her afterwards to say he wanted to make a $50,000 gift. That's not a fluke!

That’s what happens when you learn to hear what a donor is really telling you — and respond with connection instead of treating it like a transaction.

Craig Nason did it with a funder he'd pursued for years, and closed a $437,500 five-year commitment.

Jackie Dalton did it with a longtime donor and moved her from a $25,000 gift to $50,000.

None of those gifts started with a bigger Ask.

They started by correctly reading the donor's signals first.

TEACH ME TO READ THE SIGNALS FOR DONORS ARE READY FOR MORE

Results my clients have achieved using the approach I’ll share in this new live workshop:

“One of the first milestones I directly attribute to the work we did together was transforming a donor who had been giving $1,000 annually into a $100,000 donor.

Today, she is funding scholarships and contributing nearly $200,000 each year.

That experience showed me the power of relationship-based fundraising and the importance of truly understanding a donor’s passions and motivations.”

Cristina Fragale
Senior Director of Recruitment & Development
Preston High School
The Bronx, NY

“I have a lot of what I call “skeptical” donors with high capacity, but since I started working with Beth Ann, I’m moving many of those along more quickly and I have so much more confidence.

I used to feel that donors were rejecting me when they said no. Beth Ann has helped me get over those feelings and navigate large volume of donors at the major gift and principal gift levels."



Barbara Mari
Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Principal Gifts
St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital
Doral, Florida

“Beth Ann’s insights about donors are so valuable because she speaks from decades of experience. She listens and hears things about the donor that fundraisers can't afford to miss.

Beth Ann taught me how to ask for legacy gifts. She gave me several examples of what to say and her approach to fundraising works so well I have secured multiple gifts."




Lorie Fees
Director of Major Gifts
Children's Hope Alliance
Statesville, North Carolina

Start spotting the cues that reveal your donors are ready to give more — and learn how to respond in a way leads to bigger gifts

REGISTER NOW FOR THIS NEW, LIVE WORKSHOP:

Signals First:
How to Read Donor Readiness and Make the Right Ask at the Right Time

Signals First:
How to Read Donor Readiness and Make the Right Ask at the Right Time

THURSDAY, AUGUST 13th at 11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET

REGISTER NOW

Includes the live workshop + unlimited replay access.
You’ll receive a calendar invitation and instructions on how to prepare as soon as you sign up.

Will this live workshop help you read donor signals so you can close bigger gifts?

This workshop was created with you in mind if:

  • You're the only one doing this — juggling major gifts alongside marketing, database work, volunteers, or a dozen other hats, and donor conversations keep getting pushed to "when things slow down"
  • You just stepped into this role — new ED, new Development Director, new to fundraising altogether — and you're building your systems and your donor relationships at the same time, with no established pipeline to work from
  • You know your biggest weakness is making the Ask itself — you can build the relationships, but you're not sure when to bring money up, what number to name, or how to move past "let me think about it" 
  • You have donors, but no reliable way to tell who's actually ready to give more — so prioritizing your list and knowing where to focus first feels like guesswork and you’re wasting valuable time
  • You're in a transition moment — coming off a capital campaign and needing to shift donors back to annual giving without losing momentum, or moving your org's revenue mix beyond grants and events for the first time
SIGN ME UP FOR MORE EFFECTIVE ASKS

“We’ve more than doubled our number of active donors…”

“Since working with Beth Ann in June 2020, we’ve more than doubled our number of active donors, expanded our services, and increased our revenue to allow us to hire a part-time fundraiser. And I feel much more confident inviting donors and prospective board members to join us. Beth Ann is genuine and puts her whole soul into helping your nonprofit succeed. She cares deeply about her clients and works alongside you to achieve the best possible success.”

Gila Block, Executive Director
Yesh Tikva
Los Angeles, CaliforniA

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions I hear from fundraisers a lot before they start closing bigger gifts

Signals First:
How to Read Donor Readiness and Make the Right Ask at the Right Time

NEW, LIVE WORKSHOP:

Thursday, August 13th at 11am PT / 1pm CT / 2pm ET
$47 investment includes live workshop + unlimited replay access

You’ll walk away from this 60-minute session with:

  • A specific ask number for the donor you have in mind right now — not a guess, but a figure grounded in what they've actually signalled to you, so you're not second-guessing yourself the moment you sit down with them
  • A ready-to-use script for your very next donor conversation — the meeting request, the Ask itself, or both, in language that sounds like you
  • A next move for the donor who's gone quiet or stalled mid-pledge — instead of another "just checking in" email that goes nowhere
  • The confidence to trust your own read on a donor — instead of waiting for someone else to tell you they're ready, or talking yourself out of an Ask that was already there
  • A repeatable way to hear signals in every donor conversation from here on — not just the one you bring with you on the day 
  • Plus: Watch me coach real major gift fundraisers on real donor situations, in real time, so you have concrete examples of what all this looks like in practice and you can apply these strategies the same day.

You'll walk away knowing exactly which donors are ready for more and exactly what that readiness is telling you to do next — even if right now you're winging it and hoping for the best.

REGISTER NOW

Registration includes the live workshop + unlimited replay access.
You’ll receive a calendar invitation and instructions on how to prepare as soon as you sign up.

Questions? Send us an email at [email protected]

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