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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All week, I’ve been sharing the answers I’ve been giving to questions I’ve been getting on how to effectively use Twitter. The first two were on what I use to tweet and how to find interesting people to follow. Today is the final installment: What are hashtags? (And why should I care?) What are “hashtags”? [...]

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On Monday, I started the first of three posts I’m calling Twitter 101. That post focuses on programs I use to tweet. Today, I’ll answer the second question I’ve been getting: How do I find people to follow on Twitter? How do I find people to follow on Twitter? Following interesting people is the key [...]

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Recently, I’ve been asked how to use Twitter. I’ve already written on Twitter for Fundraising and Twitter for nonprofits. But these questions were much more “tactical,” how-to type questions so I thought I’d share with you what I’ve been telling folks. The questions work into 3 basic categories: What do you use to tweet? How [...]

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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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Fundraisers are some of the best people in the world. People committed enough to a cause to ask others to invest in it. They’re good with people, great at networking with donors, and quite resourceful. Except when it comes to professional development. I’ve spoken to too many colleagues that aren’t allowed to go to professional [...]

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I’m thrilled with the increase in Twitter usage I’m seeing! More and more people are checking it out. Here’s a tip: feel free to reply to other people’s tweets. If people are using Twitter, they know their comments are public. If they wanted to be private, they would’ve sent a direct message or an email. [...]

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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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This is the time of year when all the nonprofit geeks gather at NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conference and when the rest of us who feel techincally savvy realize we’re probably just geek-wannabes. Even if you not in San Francisco, it’s very easy to keep up on what’s happening. To see the conference’s Twitter stream, simply [...]

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Since this month marks the 1 year anniversary of the publication of “Ask Without Fear!“, I’m deciding to have a party! On April 28 at 12 noon Eastern Time, I’ll be offering a free teleclass on fundraising in today’s economy. To join the call, you just need to go to the registration page. The call [...]

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