One of the great joys I have, being a fundraiser, is meeting donors who are true fans of our mission. 

You may have had donors like that - they're supporters and they give regularly. They may attend events or volunteer. They talk about your work to others. You may not even realize how much...

"So if you aspire to be a good conversationalist, be an attentive listener. To be interesting, be interested. Ask questions that other persons will enjoy answering. Encourage them to talk about themselves and their accomplishments.” 

I believe that the most effective fundraising is connection-based fundraising.

Sure, you can "get donations in the door" with simple transactions. But most nonprofits are in it for the long haul, to create lasting, positive change in the world. So you want lasting donor...

What to do when our non-fundraising colleagues and leadership don't understand fundraising

Most fundraisers aim to build a Culture of Philanthropy within their organizations. This is important because internal support is an key stepping stone to fundraising success – particularly...

In a previous post, I offered some practical tips on  ensuring that your nonprofit events maximize donor, volunteer and prospect relationships and help move them forward (and how to deal with challenges here).

But much of this can start even earlier - at the invitation stage.

What typically...

Recently I've been talking about Working the Room - how to get the most out of donor relationships during event. Then I wrote a post about getting the right people to the event.  The posts outlined practical steps about how fundraisers, board and staff can focus on the donors and not...

I had a colleague who told me, as we prepared to attend a pre-opening donor event at an art museum, that these events were very difficult for her.

"They aren't hard for you, you like talking with people," she said to me. "For me, it is different."

Yes and no. There is no question that I get...

When working with donors to identify prospective donors who may wish to support your charity, an important part of relationship building is what I call "transfer of trust."

Kivi Leroux Miller talks about it in her book The Nonprofit Marketing Guide.

"Few people wake up and decide out of the blue...

Storytelling is an important tool for fundraisers: 2 more tools to supercharge your efforts: storyweaving and storylistening. 

Research tells us: 

Using stories signals the brain to pay attention and to store the meaning deeply in the cerebellum. 

Emotions...

You need the "person" in personalization to connect with donors...

Back in 2013, I started a new position covering a maternity leave. Almost immediately, I implemented hand-signing all thank you letters. At the time, none had a live signature, not even the memorial donation letters, gasp!