In the May 1st online edition of the Chronicle of Philanthropy a headline stated: “Charities Give Boards Little Training in Fund Raising, Study Finds.” I would argue that most board members do not want training in fund raising. They didn’t join our organizations because they wanted to learn how to prospect, cultivate, and make “asks.” […]

This post is part three of a three-part series on board/staff collaboration. Go here to read part one and here to read part two. “What we got here is a failure to communicate” said the Board President slightly chuckling at his own joke. “Actually, what we have is a failure to listen” the Executive Director […]

red strings Originally uploaded by fuzzonce I am always looking for inexpensive ways to help organizations strengthen their power to engage the public. One of the best ways to do this is by reaffirming your organization’s brand identity rather than trying to create a new one from scratch. This type of overhaul relies more on […]

You can’t get anyone to do anything, if they don’t want to. Especially when it comes to fundraising. But you can help people play to their strengths. Fundraising isn’t a solitary act, its a process that requires a group of individuals to play multiple roles and work together toward the same goal. The above chart identifies […]

We often hear how hard it is to ask for money, but rarely does anyone tell us how hard it is to generate prospect leads or to educate those prospects. In fact, if you are successful at generating leads and educating them– closing become the easiest part. We have been using the above model as a simple way of explaining successful individual donor cultivation.