The Big Give
I just watched the premier of The Big Give. (Thank God for a DVR! 🙂 ) I really liked it. I was really touched by the examples of people bringing community together. Like the woman who's husband was shot. Wow. They all pulled together. And the balloons. How cool that...
Effective email
Anyone that's read my $100,000 Guide to E-mail Solicitation knows that I'm a big proponent of simple, effective emails. Chris Brogan has an incredibly helpful post on Writing More Effective Email. Read it and benefit. I love the simple concept of using the subject to...
Fundraising Secret #13: Fundraise for causes you’re passionate about
I just had the privilege of speaking at the Consortium of Endowed Episcopal Parishes' annual meeting. What a fun group of people! As a pastor, it was a blast to speak with people who's job is to help people in their parish grow in giving. These people were passionate...
50 lighter
I've been very "aware" of my blog reading habits since Fundraising Secret #10: Read Blogs. And I realized I'd signed up for too many. So many people are writing so many good things. But I don't need to read them all. I just went through my 112 subscriptions and...
Habitat for Humanity & CEEP
I'm having quite a week! Tuesday, I was invited to train the super-elite fundraisers for Habitat for Humanity International in Atlanta. I've been a fan of Habitat for years. And what a terrific group of development people they have! Now I'm at the Consortium for...
Be real
One of my favorite stories is Winston Churchill's definition of "diplomacy." According to what I heard, Churchill said: "Diplomacy is not saying, 'Lady, your face is so ugly it would stop a clock' but 'Darling, when I look into your eyes, time stands still.'" I love...
It’s a conversation
Jeff Brooks is always full of great advice and delightful humor. In his blog post, You Can't Control the Conversation, he offers these tips: Here's what to do: Pay a lot of attention to your donor experience. What does it feel like to donate to your organization? Do...
Involuntary tithing
Check this article out from the Chronicle of Philanthropy's daily email: A Charity Levy for Britain's Wealthy? Affluent British people who do not give at least 10 percent of their incomes to charity should pay an equivalent surcharge in taxes, said Frank Field, former...
Fundraising Secret #12: Don’t be fooled by flashy cars
Check out this Reuters story : Frugal librarian amassed $8 million art trove. With a The Millionaire Next Door feel, librarian Jean Preston ate frozen meals and took the bus. But she'd collected art work worth more around $8 million. The lesson I get from this? Any...
Is it about us, or about them?
Chris Busch has a great blog post on the differences of political campaign websites. You may remember that in the "Create a Cause" tenent Creating Donor Evangelists, I recommend looking at political sites to see what they do well. Well check out the sites of the front...
$100 donor or millionaire?
Just read this in the daily update from the Chronicle of Philanthropy: Large Bequest Surprises Diabetes Charity An 86-year-old Annapolis woman who died in a house fire last March shocked a diabetes group by bequeathing it the largest donation in the organization’s...
More on Ned
In the spirit of my Fundraising Secret #11: Don't be a Ned, I offer this from YouTube.
Fundraising Secret #11: Don’t be a Ned
With Ground Hog Day right around the corner here in the US, I thought we'd learn Fundraising Secret #11 from the perspective of the classic movie Ground Hog Day: Fundraising Secret #11: Don't be a Ned Does this sound like your fundraising efforts? Ned: Phil? Phil...
20% off sale extended
To help you get even more of a jumpstart to 2008, I've extended my offer of 20% off my Creating Donor Evangelists products and the Highlands Abilities Battery. Just go to https://fundraisingcoach.com/store.htm and after you put the items in your cart, type the word...
Fundraising Secret #10: Read Blogs
January is a great time to set plans for the new year. I know many of you are using my MagnetGoals Program or something similar. If raising more money this year is one of your goals, one of the most important things you can commit to is investing in learning. Learn...
Guidestar helps people donate to Inland Foundation
Check this out: now you can search for a nonprofit on GuideStar and make a donation at the same time! Click "donate now" and you'll get a link like this snazzy way to give to the Inland Foundation. All the more reason to have pretty 990's! You can bet I'll be finding...
Coaching Services
Since more people are asking about coaching, I've updated my Fundraising Coaching Services page at Fundraisingcoach.com. Let me know if I can be of service!
Book update
I've been emailing with the publishers of Ask Without Fear! A Simple Guide to Connecting Donors with What Matters to Them Most. They assure me the book will be in print by the end of February/beginning of March. As hard as it is for me to believe, there are other...
A resource for your new year
Squidoo
I've just tweaked my page at Squidoo. Sorry. My "lens" at Squidoo! If you use Squidoo, I'd love to hear the things you like most about it. Feel free to post a comment here.
Percentage Based Fundraising
If I had a nickel for every time I was asked if I'd work for a percentage of funds raised, I'd be a rich man. But fundraisers that have been in the field far longer than my measly 10 years have long been against this practice. The idea appeals to the entrepreneur in...
Fundraising Secret #9: Don’t innovate just to innovate
Liz Strauss has a great post on innovation at Brainless Business Bible: Customers want innovation. She says a speaker at a conference emphatically said "Customers want innovation." He even had a powerpoint slide with that on it. But, as she points out, customers are...
20% off selected products at the Fundraising Coach Store
To help you jumpstart your 2008 fundraising success, I'm offering 20% off two of my most popular offerings: Creating Donor Evangelists program gives you easy to implement tools to help take your relationships with your donors to the next level. If you want to learn...
Fundraising Secret #8: Plan Your Work; Work Your Plan
Whether your fiscal year is based on a calendar year or some other cycle (ours starts in October!), December is a great time to review your goals. So often we're running so hard and fast that we don't take time to look up and see what direction we're running in! Years...
Fundraising Secret #7: Don’t ask for money on a postcard
In keeping with the fundraising secrets on using the PS and writing with blue ink, I'm offering Fundraising Secret #7: Don't ask for money on a post card (or a credit card number on a postcard). It's amazing but some of us do it! I did it last year. It seemed like an...
Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants
Nancy Schwartz is hosting this month's Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants. Check it out to see what the three top things some of us are committing to in 2008. It's not to early to start thinking about your 2008 goals. Be sure to check out my MagnetGoals program!
Not Enough Status
Just made a reservation for the New England Association of Healthcare Philanthropy 2008 Conference at the Mystic Marriott Hotel & Spa. The call to the Marriott reservations person was friendly. He knew of the conference discount. He not only asked if I was a Marriott...
3 Marketing To Do’s for 2008
Nancy Schwartz is hosting the next Carnival of Nonprofit Consultants. This time the question is: What are the Top 3 "To Dos" on Your 2008 Nonprofit Marketing Agenda? Here are my three: Develop a plan to proactively promoting my new book Ask Without Fear! A Simple...
The “you” test
Mal Warwick first got me thinking about how often I use "you" (or I don't use "you"!) in my fundraising letters. Here's a sort of test I saw in Fundraising Success magazine. Does Your Messaging Pass the ‘You’ Test? “The ‘you’ test is the quickest, surest way I know to...
Ask Without Fear Book Update!
Early this morning I received the final design of my book Ask Without Fear! . I'm so excited! This now goes to the publisher for printing. I'm not sure what the final time table is but the book is closer than it's ever been to being in print!! To take advantage of the...