Fundraiser Education

When we asked two-time bobsleigh Olympian and silver medalist Helen Upperton to fundraise for MSF Canada, we offered her the support and guidance of our fundraising and communications teams. Well, Helen is a veteran fundraiser. A master, as are most amateur athletes in this country. They have to be. Today, she’s retired from bobsleigh and broadcasting from Sochi. How did she achieve all she’s achieved in the last decade? Training, talent and donors — and knowing how to ask. She’s so good at asking I started writing down some of our conversations.

The past half-decade has seen turbulent times for both the U.S. economy and the nonprofit fundraising sector. At the DMA Nonprofit Federation's 2009 New York Nonprofit Conference, three fundraising professionals shared quick tips for nonprofits on how to survive and thrive in turbulent times.

Often we hear great quotes capturing the essence of the message. They are inspiring! They remind us of the important reasons why we work for charity and how we should do it, or how best practice would describe it … I’ve asked around to fellow fundraisers lately and collected a good list of quotes and one-liners. Enjoy! Please add your own favorite underneath in the comments!

Will we ever be rid of the idea that nonprofits can somehow achieve a nirvana where very little (or no) money goes to boring things like salaries, technology, infrastructure, fundraising, leadership development, planning, R&D? I wonder if we could gain more traction by talking less about the negatives of an overhead myth and talking more about the positives of nonprofit organization building.

Before you get your Valentine's Day evening going, make sure and register for FundRaising Success' second annual Engage Conference — because it's the final day for the special $100 off early bird rate. You can register here and enter the discount code FSNews100 for this special rate, which expires at the end of the day.

A new year is a good time for organizational resolutions. Many successful nonprofit organizations perform a SWOT analysis and organize their thoughts in four key areas: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

In 2012, the Coast Guard Foundation executed two extremely successful fundraising campaigns. The first, an emergency appeal in response to a Coast Guard helicopter crash, was a sensitive and sad campaign to embark, but the CGF donors really stepped up to the plate because the organization struck the right match between message and need.

The 2014 Winter Olympics kick off Friday with Opening Ceremonies in Sochi, Russia. The best athletes around the world will gather together to compete for gold medals that will label them “the best in the world.” Over the years I’ve watched hard-working executive directors, major-gift officers and development directors strive for excellence every day, just like Olympic athletes.

So, in between watching hockey, figure skating, bobsledding and alpine skiing, I invite you to take some time to see how your work may qualify you for a fundraising Olympic gold medal.

Get everyone on the same page. Be focused. Have a plan. Fine-tune your plan. Implement your plan!

Have you ever looked at organizations such as Food For The Poor, City Harvest or the Coast Guard Foundation and wondered how they do it? And more importantly, how your organization can do it too?