A champion of giving, Lewis Cullman, acknowledged Tuesday night at the Chess-in-the-Schools benefit that the economy is making it more difficult for organizations to raise money.

However, Chess-in-the-Schools, which last year taught chess and improved the academic prospects for 20,000 students in the public schools, hasn’t felt the pinch.

“We’ve done it again this year: We’ve raised more than $1 million, in a year when people are very concerned, when people are suddenly giving excuses. Our donors do not.”

Perhaps they can’t say no to Mr. Cullman or the other persuasive board members, such as Cody Smith and Muffy Flouret. Or perhaps Chess-in-the-Schools supporters can’t say no because the gala is so successful at conveying the benefits of the program.

The organization gets its message across by inviting students not only to attend the event, but to make their presence, and their stories, known.

Tony Thompson, 18, has been involved with Chess-in-the-Schools since he was 8. He attended the event in a new suit purchased for the occasion at Access Men’s Clothing in the Kings Plaza mall. The Brooklyn Technical High School senior has been accepted into 10 colleges and wants to be a doctor. By the time he talked to me at the end of the cocktail hour, he’d already told about a dozen other guests his story. He had also played some chess (his favorite opening moves: Queen’s Gambit for white, Sicilian Defense for black).

“Playing chess has been a confidence boost. You learn how to think ahead. I’m glad I stuck with it because it helped me get into college,” Mr. Thompson said.

Chess also teaches valuable life lessons.

“I’ve lost a lot of games, and every loss gives you a burning desire to do better,” a junior at Stuyvesant High School, Mahfuzer Miah, said. “It’s how well you play at the moment. People don’t worry about their past defeats.”

The program provides chess lessons and weekly tournament experience, as well as academic tutoring, mentoring, college counseling, and travel opportunities. In addition to deploying its own instructors, last year the organization launched a program to train public school teachers to become chess instructors, which was funded by a grant from the City Council.

“Players continually must face new positions and new problems. They cannot solve these by using a simple formula or relying on memorized answers,” the executive director of Chess-in-the-Schools, Marley Kaplan said. “Instead, they must analyze and calculate while relying on a dose of creativity — skills that increasingly mirror what students must confront in their schoolwork and life.”

Robin MacNeil presented $3,500 checks from Chess-in-the-Schools to three seniors, to help them with college expenses: Mr. Thompson, Khalid Francis and Akil Griffiths.

Mr. MacNeil also confessed his personal deficiencies at chess, dating back to a match he played in college, against his girlfriend’s 6-year-old brother. He lost. “And the girlfriend didn’t last either — her choice,” Mr. MacNeil said.

agordon@nysun.com