Do you remember Jean Preston, the unassuming librarian who’d amassed an $8 million estate? Or Helene Whitlock Alley, the $100 donor that bequethed $7.3 million to a diabetes group. Well here’s another entry in the never underestimate anyone category: Richard Walters. Perhaps you’ve heard his name on NPR: “Support for NPR comes from the estate [...]

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In Fundraising Secret #41, I encouraged you to go rounding on your donors. Since then, I’ve been reminded how much time this takes! It’s not just the visit time, that time is wonderful. But it’s time to set up the visits and then, more importantly, the time to record the visit in a database and [...]

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As fundraisers, we know we are most effective at our job when we’re talking to prospects one-on-one. Isn’t it amazing how seldom we do it? I’ve been doing this for years but I’m still amazed at how easily we get caught up in writing case statements, designing fundraising letters, refining development strategies…all things we can [...]

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Have you heard about Twestival? In one day last February, people all over the globe used Twitter to organize fundraising events that raised $250,000 for charity:water. Well it’s back! This time it’s Twestival Local. Hundreds of teams around the world will be raising money for hundreds of local charities. Even if you’re not one of [...]

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If you’re going to ask people for money, you’ve got to learn to love objections. Or at least be comfortable with them! Working on a session for the APRA conference in Boston, I’m relearning how fun objections can be. Seriously, if there were no objections, we wouldn’t be needed. It would be so clearly self-evident [...]

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As the recession continues, and our need for funds grows, I continue to believe we’ll need a combination of face-to-face experiences with donors augmented by a robust, but appropriate, use of online tools. In my article Bananas and Websites, I give an overview of Seth Godin’s concept that, when looking at a web page, all [...]

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Here’s a great piece from Lois Lindauer‘s latest “Development News” email: AHP Study Demonstrates Value of Fundraisers in Recession The Association of Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) just released results from its 2007 benchmarking survey, which examines nonprofit hospital giving during a period encompassing the early months of this recession. Reviewing development programs across American hospitals, the [...]

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I’ve been through a flurry of bad powerpoint presentations recently. At the last one, the speakers turned their backs to the audience and read the slides word-for-word. I kid you not. Perhaps it was because the words were so tiny none of us could see them. If you’re using Powerpoint or a similar slide-style program [...]

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Last week, I had someone pay me a huge, though unintended, compliment when unsubscribing from my email newsletter. She said the content was “far too basic” for her. I was thrilled! I strive to make fundraising simple, basic, and easy to understand. Many of you have heard me say that the most extreme thing about [...]

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My grad school, Regent University’s School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship invited me to do the latest in their Leadership Talks series. The topic? Fundraising in a recession of course! If you have 12 minutes, take a listen! Fundraising in a Recession.

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