Professional fundraisers need to remember that Giving Makes People Happy. This is an informative and well researched post from Bloomerang that reminds us of how to best approach our work. Helping our colleagues, co-workers and board volunteers to adopt this philosophy will help them to share in the joy of successful fundraising done well. Nonprofit […]

It is the second day of week four of Covid-19 Fundraising, and this week we are inspired to adopt, adapt and improve.  Like so many other regularly scheduled events, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) turned its 2020 Annual Conference into a VIRTUAL event, demonstrating the path for all of us to adopt, adapt and […]

Thanks to Penelope Burk for bravely jumping into this topic!  Her thoughtful article reminds us to keep our focus on our donors and to be resolute in executing a specific plan that is right for our organization.  Without this focus, it is difficult to resist the allure of national campaigns and promotions such as  Giving […]

Empowering others, establishing trust, learning from mistakes and setbacks, and having confidence in your team’s abilities may seem like obvious methods of achieving results, but too often, leaders fail to put in the time it takes to cultivate a successful environment in the teams they lead. In a recent article by Christina Curtis, an executive coach at […]

Here is a new take on composing a list of fundamental fundraising principles by UK’s fundraising sage Ken Burnett at SOFII (showcase of fundraising innovation and inspiration).  This list may be new to some, and strangely familiar to most here in the US.   It provides a wonderful reminder of what it takes to realize […]

The Special Event Fundraiser has long been a pet peeve of ours.  It seems that every organization conducts their share of special events, unfortunately, too many seem to take on a life of their own and are now divorced from any rational strategy to truly advance the organization.  The March issue of the Chronicle of […]

The constantly evolving tools available to development professionals today are truly amazing.  The pace of change is staggering.  Are you old enough to remember what breakthrough technology used to look like, such as what the laser printer did for direct mail fundraising?  This article (found in the Association of Fundraising Professional’s eNewsletter) highlights several exciting […]