Fundraiser Education

Ted Hart speaks with CFRE and fundraising author Kay Sprinkel Grace about 2015 fundraising success plans on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.

As we close out 2014 and head into what is considered the warmest, kindest, most spiritual and “giving-est” time of the year, I leave you with these thoughts. Not all heroes wear capes, and we have no idea what the person in line ahead of us does or is capable of making happen. Your donors are heroes. Remember that, and treat them as such. Engage with them, give thanks to them and for them. Figure out what you need to do to unlock their inner hero, and do it.

And so are you. Remember that, too, when the day-to-day of what you do feels overwhelming. Or disappointing. When it breaks your heart. Or your back. What you do matters. Thank you for doing it. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

“As a profession, we have at some point really fallen into the trap of execution of tricks. We don’t always think through who is this donor, what are we helping donors accomplish,” says legendary fundraising consultant Robert Hartsook.

The FundRaising Success Virtual Conference and Expo is free, and it takes place today! It's not too late to register and join in on the fun. More than 2,000 of your colleagues already have!

Trust me, word-of-mouth advertising is priceless. The recent $30 million Indianapolis Zoological Society capital campaign that exceeded goal by $4 million was "textbook" in its success and use of word-of-mouth, and in reality, it is a success for the entire profession!

There's an emerging movement to value talent, invest in the next generation, be open to change, and look for and nurture new fundraisers coming up in the ranks!

Join FundRaising Success in Washington, D.C., next week for our inaugural peer-to-peer conference, Engage P2P: Redefining Peer to Peer.

Believe it or not, we're two full weeks into October, which means the year-end fundraising season is right around the corner - and that Engage P2P: Redefining Peer to Peer, the newest FundRaising Success conference, is just one week away!

FundHub's Kevin Harrington, one of the original "Shark" investors on television's "Shark Tank" will give the keynote address at GCCB2014, (The Global Crowdfunding Convention and Bootcamp) on Friday, October 24, 2014 in Las Vegas.

Ted Hart, CEO of Charities Aid Foundation of America(CAFAmerica) and CEO of P2P Fundraising, GreenNonprofits.org and TedHart.com, broadcasts live from Blackbaud's bbcon 2014 conference in Nashville for a special 90-minute episode of his Nonprofit Coach radio show.