What It Means to Win in Fundraising: Lessons from the Olympic Games

What It Means to Win in Fundraising: Lessons from the Olympic Games

If I told you, “You’re a winner!” How would that sit with you? Would it make you feel uncomfortable? Like a fraud? Unsure if you deserved it? So many of us have a messy relationship with success and celebrating our wins. But why is that? Let’s take a moment to reframe...
Why Asking Boldly Hardly Ever Happens

Why Asking Boldly Hardly Ever Happens

The donor is giving $5,000 a year. She has the capacity to easily give $250,000, has the inclination, and has an expressed desire to connect more deeply with the organization. But the frontline fundraiser does not ask for more. Why? He is afraid it might offend her...
How Internal Team Dynamics & Dysfunction Derail Fundraising

How Internal Team Dynamics & Dysfunction Derail Fundraising

There is no doubt we all prefer dealing with certain types of people and not dealing with other types. I have a clear profile in my mind right now, as I am writing this, as to the type I do not like dealing with. Stop for a second. Identify yours. There is no doubt...
Are Your Donor Strategy Meetings a Waste of Time?

Are Your Donor Strategy Meetings a Waste of Time?

How often have you left a donor strategy meeting with your team and thought, “That was a total waste of time.” It’s an hour of everyone reporting on what they’ve done well, only sharing successes (sometimes even repeating the same ones, meeting after meeting). It...
It’s a Strategy, NOT a Department

It’s a Strategy, NOT a Department

It’s not surprising. We are so into ourselves that we forget what fundraising all is about. We are so regimented in our thinking that we lose sight of donors. What am I talking about? The pervasive need that non-profits have to turn a fundraising strategy into a...