The overall average session rating for all 131 sessions was 5.32. The average speaker rating, across 187 speakers, was 5.66. Tom Ahern's session, Fabulous Case Statements Made Easy, earned a rating of 6.46 out of 7. His rating as a speaker was 6.54 out of 7.

-- Re: the 2010 AFP International Conference in Baltimore, MD

"You gave a wonderful presentation yesterday. Multi layered: outrageous, funny, intellectual, provocative, perfectly paced, perfectly timed. You made me love it! Arose this morning at 4 am fired up. Tackled a rewrite of our mission statement. It's all YOUR fault."

-- Patricia Luciani, Advancement Office, West Side Montessori School, NYC; attending the 2010 CASE/NAIS conference in NYC

"I went to your workshop in Middletown. Best 3 hours I have spent in a long time. I am now reworking my entire approach. I am encouraging all of my colleagues in other states to do the same."

-- Steve Karp, NASW/CT, January 2010

"I just wanted to say “thanks” for your help and support even though you did not know you were providing it.  I met you at a NCDC conference about 18 months ago and you had critiqued my newsletter at my last place of employment.... My new employers were open to letting me try some of your techniques and the results appear to be doing quite well (in money raised).  Of course the real proof will be the final total, but I just wanted to say “thanks!” for your education and insight!"

-- Greg Wilson, Development Director, Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types

"After Denver I came back to School & looked at my Annual Giving brochure with new eyes. I tried very hard to take some of the gems of information I absorbed from your sessions and apply them to the design. The brochure has elicited the best mail response in our 12 years of mailing!!"

-- Rosie Aust, Westminster School, Marion, South Australia, writing in July 2009, six months after the CASE/NAIS conference

"Awesome. Relevant. Implementable. Thank you." "This was the best session I attended. No one asked questions because we were all too busy recording his collected wisdom." "Some of the best advice I've ever received -- one needn't be planning a campaign to benefit from his presentation." "Best speaker of the conference! Very easy to listen to, great knowledge, audience loved him. Best take away information of any session I attended." "He was great! Well worth the time. In fact, I went to his second session because I thought he was so good." "Top notch presenter - lots of great information, kept the pace moving, answered questions specifically, delightful personality." "His 2 sessions were worth the whole trip to Denver." "Outstanding -- I wish I had heard this speaker earlier in my career."

-- A small sampling of comments from delegates to the 39th Annual CASE/NAIS Independent Schools Conference, January 2009, where both sessions were awarded "Stellar Speaker" status, scoring 4.74 and 4.84 out of 5

"I felt compelled to write a personal note of thanks. After attending [your] audio conference at an AFP workshop on Sept. 18th, 2008, board member Sandra Cooperman and I took a whole new approach to our Foundation's newsletter. Our year-end newsletter garnered approximately $43,000 -- almost twice as much as any previous newsletter in the last 10 years."

-- Celia LaRiviere, Executive Director, Redwood City Library Foundation

"Just wanted to send a belated thank you for the great seminar/workshop you conducted here in Richmond [VA] last week .... Your tips really helped in writing my e-bulletin that went out the next day! Merci mille fois!"

-- Sallie Garrett Shepherd, February 2009

"Thank you for your two fantastic sessions at the Denver CASE-NAIS conference this week. I'm new in my role as a writer for school, and your workshops were far and away the highlight of the trip. I later heard people who weren't even in your sessions comment that they heard yours were the best of the entire conference. I learned so much from your two presentations, and I'm excited about putting it all to use."

-- Maureen Maher, January 2009

"Thank you for giving such a terrific [September 2008 AFP] webconference presentation last week. Your advice was perfectly timed as we're just about to start a newsletter."

-- Sonia Wagner, Executive Director, Jewish Family Service of Orange County

"I attended your workshop for the Tulsa Chapter of AFP last week [September 2008] – fantastic! Once back in the office, I completely revamped the very verbose (although eloquent!) donor packet to reflect a simple message, plenty of smiling kiddos, and word graphics to capture attention (for the 10% of the page that the reader will actually read). I feel like a breath of fresh air swept over the entire message – thanks to you!"

-- Julia Crouch, Executive Director, Bartlesville (OK) Community Foundation

"I want to tell you that I used your principles on a grant proposal and obtained $750,000 for my organization from the Compassion Capital Fund... Thank you very much!"

-- Julio C. Lorio, who attended Donor Communications Boot Camp at the 2007 AFP international conference in Dallas, following up in August 2008

"Best session so far." "Fabulous presenter." "Very good material." "Will make a difference in my job." "He is tops!" "He was awesome." "Absolutely fantastic."

-- comments from attendees at the PSI/Seventh-day Adventist conference in Tucson, AZ, June 2008

"The sessions were great, we received many, many great comments on the content and presenters - all asking us to keep up this high level of quality. Tough act to follow. Thanks for making it great for the chapter."

-- Lorie Abernethy, CFRE, for the Calgary AFP chapter, hosting both Simone Joyaux and Tom Ahern in May 2008

"I was in your Fundraising Communications Boot Camp session at AFP [2008 international conference] last week. Probably one of the best sessions I have attended on writing...this was really new information for me and I am anxious to put it to work."

-- Jamey Campbell, VP of Stewardship Development, Christian Medical and Dental Associations

"Tom Ahern received very high marks both for his presentation style and for the content of his presentation. Participants thought he was a great communicator, knowledgeable, engaging and insightful. They thought the presentation was well paced, and included a number of practical, concrete examples which could easily be applied. The large number of examples of specific agency materials included in the PowerPoint presentation was found to be extremely useful. Several participants found the concept of developing materials from the donor’s perspective, rather than the agency’s perspective, to be extremely helpful. The reference to books and readings on this topic were also beneficial to attendees."

-- Evaluation summary for April 2008 case-writing workshop offered through the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving; 91% of 135 evaluations rated the workshop either "very good" or "excellent"

"One of the best workshops I have ever attended in my life on any subject." "More Tom Ahern soon, please!" "Thanks for things I can take back and apply right away." "Fabulous." "Tom distilled priceless nuggets into an easy to digest formula."

-- Evaluations from MA AFP chapter presentation, Feb. 2008

"Fantastic presentation." "Excellent and very enlightening!" "Would love to hear more from Tom Ahern!!" "Enjoyable, practical tips." "Absolutely full of things I can take back and use! Great job!" "Entertaining and useful. I am so glad I attended." "Fantastic!" Sampling of evaluation comments following Love Thy Reader presentation.

-- Ronald McDonald House Charities 2007 Int'l Conference

"I thought the pacing was great, the depth of knowledge was great, the technological piece of this was flawless -- I was just hugely impressed. Thanks." Comments following 2007 Ahern webinar on case statements.

-- Mike Weilbacher

"This was great. So many times in sessions on major Gifts or Capital Campaigns they gloss over the how to's of actually writing your Case. This was fabulous. I think we can do this on our own. We don't need to hire someone." Comments following 2007 Ahern webinar on case statements.

-- Gwen Atkinson, Legal Information Society of Nova Scotia

Letter of thanks sent to the Technical Development Center (Boston) following Ahern's "Donor Newsletter Boot Camp": "Please continue having courses like this. The money spent for the class fee is well worth it because of the revenue we will generate for years to come."

-- Nancy White, Voices Against Violence (Framingham, MA)

"Mr. Ahern's workshop presentation on how to maximize the impact of newsletters for fund raising was outstanding. In a refreshingly calm and measured way, without the forced humor and showmanship that so often comes with the "expert speaker" package, he delivered immediately useful insights into the do's and don'ts of appealing and persuasive newsletter design. Especially effective and appreciated was his weaving of examples from the newsletters of local organizations into the visual presentation. In this way, Planned Parenthood received what amounted to a "free consult" (not to mention exposure of our mission), and Mr. Ahern's criticisms were on target and well taken (the impact should be apparent with the next issue!). Overall, the relevance of Mr. Ahern's analysis of effective written communication with prospects went well beyond newsletters (think direct mail, or campaign statements)."

-- Stephen J. Cross, Ph.D., Planned Parenthood Trust of San Antonio and South Central Texas

"...I attended your lecture at the AFP conference...and worked with my colleagues to revamp the newsletter. In short...we can say that the post-Ahern newsletter is on track to raise twice as much as any previous newsletter. And we got many compliments for our new, friendly design."

-- Clovis Thorn, Director of Development, Drug Policy Alliance

"Thanks again for a terrific presentation at the CommA conference.... It was right on and chock full of wisdom, fact and practical information. For a room full of communications experts we still have a lot to learn."

-- Georgette Houle, Community Foundation of Ottawa

"Tom, Your "Love Thy Reader" piece is a gem. And the presentation you made to CommA was great - I'm tempted to send you 'before' and 'after' issues of our newsletter so you can see how I've taken your advice (or will be, in the coming weeks)."

-- Mary Driver, Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation

"Thanks for the great session. My only complaint is that I now have to redo virtually all our communications material!"

-- Ani Hurwitz, The New York Community Trust

"WOW!"

-- numerous evaluations from ALDE Conference, Orlando, FL

"A very big thank you for the best professional development experience I've had in years!"

-- Margaret LeRoux, attending at the Greater Worcester Community Foundation

"Thanks SO much for coming to San Antonio. EVERYONE loved your session and wanted more!"

-- Kathy B. Steward, CFP, The Community Foundation of Louisville

"Please tell Tom his seminar remains a key factor in our communications vehicles. It is amazing how many times we refer to his core principles, and how many designs we have sent back for changes as a result."

-- Sandra A. Adams, then Senior VP, External Affairs
National Parks Conservation Association (DC)

"Thanks again for all your invaluable help. It really made a difference."

-- Mona-Lynn Courteau, Amnesty International -- Canadian Section

"Tom was fascinating, full of information, entertaining - and made me think. I do not often meet those who...make me question my assumptions."

-- DC attendee

"...full of good information, inspirational, enlightening and just plain fun."

-- Sarah Coviello, Coviello & Associates (DC)

"Great workshop this morning - lots of helpful ideas!"

-- Elizabeth Williams, Williamstown House of Local History, attending at the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

"Thanks for that wonderful session. It was very helpful."

-- Meenakshi Verma, Jamaica Plain Asthma/Environmental Initiative, attending at TDC, Boston

"Your workshop here...changed the way I write!"

-- Ann Terese Lisi, Executive Director, Greater Worcester Community Foundation

"I attended your presentation at the Conference in St. Louis last week. It was a pleasure and a great experience for me. I was looking for a book from you at the AFP's Bookstore, but I couldn't find anything. If you have, please let me know how can I get one from Brazil."

-- Renata Truzzi, Doctors of Joy, Brazil

"This is the communications workshop I've always wanted to attend."

-- David Lynch, Dynamy (MA)

"While I would rate the conference an unqualified success, I would like to particularly applaud Tom Ahern's Communications Forum. His skill in presenting is exquisite - not only does he complete his itinerary, he also responds to the needs expressed by his audience."

-- Sue Tormala, Family Service Agency (Phoenix, AZ)