Fundraiser Education

Last month I had the pleasure of joining the New Orleans chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals for its annual conference, a tight and terrific two-day gathering on the beautiful campus of Holy Cross School. Organizers jammed as much education time as possible into what actually amounted to a day and a half. I couldn’t make all of the sessions, of course, but here are some nuggets of information gleaned from some of the ones I did attend.

FundRaising Success published its first issue in November 2003, which makes this our 10-year anniversary year. To celebrate, we’ll be taking a look back at past issues throughout the year. Following are some words of wisdom culled from the October 2006 issue.

In the August 2007 issue, Jeff Brooks wrote an Easier Said than Done column about "The Donor/Charity Contract," and how, quite frankly, it wasn't looking all that appealing from the donor side of things.

Your success in the field of development, marketing or communications depends on your ability to communicate effectively.

A career in major gifts can be rewarding, exciting, satisfying, but it can also be challenging and frustrating. Do you have what it takes? Depending on the sophistication of the development program, you may have to work your way up to being a major-gifts officer. Maturity is a huge factor. In some development offices, MGOs work one-on-one with high-level volunteers, prospects and donors who expect to deal with someone who has a lot of experience.

There are a lot of fundraisers out there who are in their comfort zone. They don't like change; they might be afraid of change. If you are doing everything right, the need for change is obviously less urgent. However, most of us are not doing everything right. So there is a big chance you can improve your fundraising. And the only one stopping you is … well, eh … YOU!

The more of the following symptoms you recognize, the more you might be in very serious trouble …

It's the beginning of the week, the weather is rubbish, I missed my train and forgot my swimming stuff for my lunchtime swim. Oh and I am back from annual leave. I am, therefore, in a very grumpy mood and thought instead of writing deep and meaningful blogs about fundraising we could do a lighthearted look at all that is wrong with it.

Mission envy — most nonprofits have at least a minor case of it. Thinking that another organization in your community has it "made." Knowing that the reasons it is so successful are because it has the perfect board members, the easy-to-sell mission, the broad base of community support, the beautiful building(s), the smart and outgoing executive director, a strong development staff. In short — that organization clearly has it all!

Much of fundraising is an art, not a science. Knowing when a prospect is ripe for an ask or how to craft a case for support that really tugs on the heartstrings takes experience and practice. There are, however, several immutable, undeniable laws of great fundraising that are so very essential to the process that they can’t be overstated. Simply put, if you want to be a thriving nonprofit with rapidly growing fundraising revenue, the following rules are incontestable.

Ted Hart speaks with Andrea Kihlstedt, co-founder of Asking Matters and author of "Asking Styles: Harness Your Personal Fundraising Power," about fundraising power on his Nonprofit Coach radio show.