Books: 'Nonprofit Management 101'

Connecting emerging leaders to established resources was a huge focus of the Boot Camp, and the book is an extension of that. It's Nonprofit Boot Camp as a book, and just like the conference, I created a framework and a focus on practical solutions and then recruited the most dynamic, well-recognized experts to provide the 
content — with me serving as moderator.

FS: What are some takeaways nonfundraisers will glean from this book?

DRH: There's a great chapter on getting your board to fundraise by the late, great Bob Zimmerman. Specifically, one of my favorite tips of his is organizing a call-a-thon to engage board members in fundraising and help ease them into the notion that all board members need to support the organization's development efforts. That doesn't always need to be engaging in an ask, and thanking existing donors is a great way to get them on the field and building relationships with key supporters, who are used to only hearing from groups when they want more money.

Tori O'Neal-McElrath's chapter on foundation fundraising is also full of practical insights, including the commonly overlooked idea that you should never send in a grant request without first making contact with the organization. Although we like to tell ourselves that it's all about a fit with their program areas, the truth is relationships play a huge role in determining who gets funding.

Simply cold calling or, ideally, setting up a meeting to identify which of your programs is the best fit for their funding priorities, how much money to ask for, ideal language and positioning to use, and even asking the program officer to review a draft of your proposal before you formally submit it can increase success rates by 1,000 percent!

Finally, there are a variety of online fundraising, social-media and storytelling 2.0 chapters in the book, and Network for Good's Katya Andresen and Rebecca Higman highlight Google Grants, which is an amazing, free resource that just about every nonprofit should take advantage of.