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In 2007, after listening to a lot of donors and conducting a lot of research, I advised, “Don’t just ask you donors to give to… Read More
It gets posted all over social media. Featured in books. Heard at seminars. Repeated on webinars. It’s hard to work very long in fundraising without… Read More
The “one big thing” in fundraising is this: Advance the donor’s hero story. The previous article set in this series explored this in detail. The… Read More
When choosing board members, so many nonprofits gravitate towards doctors, lawyers, and accountants. Why? I think partially because it’s easier to know that they have… Read More
As turnover in the nonprofit sector continues to plague so many organizations, and not just with major gift officers, it’s time to face a difficult… Read More
Donors are looking for a better philanthropic value proposition. They want to know how their dollars will be turned into differences. Traditional fundraising loses four out… Read More
“It doesn’t make sense to hire smart people and then tell them what to do. We hire smart people so they can tell us what… Read More
Lead with a gift: The primal-giving game Biologists model sustainable giving in nature with a game.[1] This primal-giving game models reciprocal altruism.[2] What’s the best… Read More
I didn’t know I should be asking this one question when talking to donors: “When would be a good time for me to follow up?”… Read More
Why do gift officers quit their jobs so frequently? Gift officer turnover is holding so many nonprofit organizations back. And not just in terms of… Read More
So much of standard fundraising practice is inconsistent with philanthropic partnership building. Would you enter into, feel comfortable with, or stay in a partnership if… Read More
Every single human being in every single society on earth subscribes to an unspoken rule when it comes to reciprocation as follows: If someone does… Read More
In nature, giving to unrelated others can be sustainable. But it requires some form of reciprocity. This need not be immediate. It need not be… Read More
Have you heard this objection before? “I’ve been giving for 20 years. There’s nothing you can tell me I don’t already know.” This is an… Read More
Nobody gives when they feel the professionals working for an organization or institution dislike them. I’m writing this today because I’m constantly befuddled when I… Read More
It starts with a question In nature, sustainable giving to unrelated others does occur. But it happens only with reciprocal alliances. These alliances start by… Read More
Everyone Is entitled to their own fundraising opinions but not their own fundraising facts. That’s what the brilliant Daniel Patrick Moynihan said, without the reference… Read More
Story works In fundraising, story is powerful. Story works better than formal descriptions. Story works better than facts and figures. Simply, story works better than… Read More
Here are Nine Things I Wish I Knew My First Year in Major Gifts 1. Stop talking so much. Ask Good questions and listen. 2…. Read More
Patience is powerful. When pursuing major gifts, it’s tempting to want to go fast, and to accept the first gift a donor offers. You don’t… Read More
Wealth screening data gets a lot of attention and usage from nonprofits looking for a quick way to identify people more likely to make a… Read More
Socratic fundraising asks questions. It’s easy to think of this as face-to-face, one-on-one conversations. But sometimes that isn’t feasible. The right personnel aren’t available. Or… Read More
I began noticing the disparities early in my fundraising career. Much of the fundraising advice shared at professional conferences did not seem to accurately reflect… Read More
Questions are the most powerful tool in a fundraiser’s toolbox. More than anything else, asking good fundraising questions will build trust with donors, allow them… Read More
Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
Want to help more people make impact by facilitating their acts of philanthropy but feel like too many obstacles keep getting in your way?
Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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