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Planned gifts often constitute some of the biggest gifts charities ever receive. But winning them requires you to make the donor think about their own… Read More
One of the most effective strategies for major gifts fundraising is to help your donors advance their personal hero story. This isn’t just our claim…. Read More
Understanding the motives for why donors make major gifts is a big part of successful fundraising. This is how we can relate to a donor… Read More
Major gifts fundraising is a job that requires an advanced set of skills. In other words, you must know some basics to simply do this… Read More
Effective fundraising starts with identity. Compelling fundraising story connects the donation story with the donor’s story. When does a story become the donor’s story? When… Read More
Effective fundraising can deliver real value to donors. For example, it can enhance public reputation. This external identity has tangible economic value.[1] But fundraising can… Read More
Verba docent, exempla trahunt. “Words teach people, examples compel them.” – Latin proverb[1] It’s simple. We want the donor to say, “Yes.” But how? How… Read More
Giving vs. sharing Are we asking people to give? Or are we asking them to share? This might feel like a trivial choice of synonyms…. Read More
The noble dream Small nonprofits have needs. Often, it’s obvious. The furnishings are a bit ragged. The space is cramped. The conditions are spartan. But… Read More
Need help convincing the ‘powers that be’ to pony up the cash for the best and most valuable online fundraising eCourse on the planet? Even… Read More
Biologists model sustainable giving in nature with a simple game.[1] The heroic donation comes from an extreme version of this game. The numbers game In… Read More
Something’s missing. You might have noticed. The last few posts played the primal-giving game.[1] But they didn’t focus on heroes. Now, it’s time to get… 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
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
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
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
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
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
There are two languages in fundraising – donorese, and organizationish. And, as often happens when people speak two different languages, miscommunication happens, and it obstructs… Read More
Sure, asking for money is hard. But asking for an estate gift? Even experienced fundraisers can get squeamish. As Anne Melvin puts it, “For many… Read More
Fundraiser turnover is an epidemic. And that’s not just our opinion or an attempt to be dramatic. Actual researchers used that label to describe the… Read More
Disaster! We put in the work. We put in the planning. We carefully execute each step in the cultivation process. We thoughtfully craft and stage… Read More
Making the ask can be the scariest part of fundraising. Setting up social events is great fun. Being friendly with others is enjoyable. Talking about… Read More
Before the ask, one step remains. Asking for permission to ask. The request is to present a challenge. This is the proposal for support.[1] Getting… 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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