In most instances, ‘ask’ is a verb, e.g. “Ask how long it will be before dinner is ready.” But in certain contexts, it is used as a noun, e.g. “Who’s going to make the ask at our fundraiser?”
How would your event (or appeal letter or face to face meeting) change if you thought of the ask as an invitation? Invitation in the original sense of the word: an offer to come or go somewhere.
An ask is transactional. An invitation is relational.
Where are you inviting your clients, donors and volunteers to go?