I get the opportunity to work with a lot of faith-based organizations. I love helping them get excited about raising money and showing them that others in the Bible did too. But I’m amazed by a persistent cop-out so common among Christian causes, I’m adding it to my “Fundraising Myths” category. The cop out is: [...]

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I’ve just created a page of the quotations used in my fundraising training book. These have helped so many of the thousands of people that have read the book that I’ll also be sharing some of them on Twitter with the hashtag #awfquotes. There are 55 quotes about fundraising, the steps to successful fundraising (researching, [...]

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Within the last couple weeks, there was an article about another nonprofit closing. Reading the article, I saw an incredibly common fundraising myth perpetuated. The myth sounds goes something like this: if we only had more businesses and foundation grants, then our funding challenges would be over. Check this quote out: “You really need more [...]

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I have the honor of being included in Sandra Sim’s Mythbusters series. You can see the blog post at: http://stepbystepfundraising.com/fundraising-myth-its-great-to-be-cheap/

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I almost succumbed to the “If I Mail It, They Will Give” fundraising faux pas! We sent about 100 letters to donors telling them about an incredible matching opportunity we have. A donor is matching every new endowed fund with $2500. So far, we have secured 11 of the 48 available matches. That is an [...]

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Check out the great post The word that can destroy your marketing over at the Donor Power Blog. I’ll give you a hint: the word is one letter long. What do you think it is?

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Here’s an article I wrote last year around tax time. Perhaps you’ll find it helpful. Are You Paying Tax On Your Charitable Gifts?

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I. FUNDRAISING FOLLIES: Unclear Terms II. RESOURCE SPOTLIGHT: Executive Director Opening I. FUNDRAISING FOLLIES: Unclear Terms The Inland Foundation just received a $400,000 matching challenge grant to help us complete our current $1.1 million campaign. I was thrilled but the people around me were happy but not all were as exuberant as I was. Especially [...]

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entitlement n : right granted by law or contract (especially a right to benefits) [Written Wednesday, July 20, 2005] Yet again it’s time for Maine Public Broadcasting to do it’s pledge drive. Rather than the normal NPR news programs, now much of the time is given over to folks talking about the importance of being [...]

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I. Fundraising Follies: Forgetting the Story II. Resource Spotlight: WeReview I. Fundraising Follies: Forgetting the Story It seems so much of our time in the nonprofit world is what I call “present-future focus.” Our organizations can see the present and know exactly what we’re looking for in the future.But this present-future focus can cause us [...]

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