Is it possible to run a report or query that will pull from fields like last and greatest to generate a hard ask, for insertion into a fundraising letter?
And what fields to you all output when trying to determine your ask?
Thanks!

You can output the largest or most recent gift in a query. However, you might not want to just plop that number into a letter. For example, their largest gift may be a multi-year pledge for $1,000, which they are half-way through paying. It wouldn't necessarily make sense to ask for another donation when they're already paying on a current pledge.

 As for determining the amount for an ask, I'm not too familiar with that, but I believe our group does that manually by going into each record and looking at the overall history, their relationship to our school, where they work, etc.

 Hope that helps.
 

 You can include the latest and greatest gift dates and gift amounts in the export you are using to create the data file for the merge into your letter.  I also like to include a gift summary for the last couple of years (so for FY09 appeal I would include the total number of gifts and total amount given in each of the last 3 years) or by fund.  Then you can insert a column/field for the target amount right after the individual's giving information.  It makes it easy to review.

Last, largest, etc. gift in query can not be defined the way it can in export.  I definitely recommend export.  I use the largest gift in the past 3 years as the base for my ask.  If they are a current donor (0-24 months) I ask for an increase as the lowest amount then 2 levels even higher.  If they are lapsed - I ask for the same amount as the lowest amount but still have 2 levels higher.