Are You Nurturing the 4 Fundraising Babies?

He said now is not the time to shy away from corporate fundraising. Embrace it. Find a company that can communicate your brand and cause. Keep practicing the traditional methods that still yield results.

3. Future baby
“Look to the future — what does it take to win?” Elischer asked. “Be leaders of tomorrow. Leadership is a mind-set.”

Looking to the future, Elischer said the institutional hierarchy needs to be flattened. Organizations must grow their leadership to survive the future. Strategy has to change. The new strategy must revolve around truth, assertions, alternatives and people. You must find a way to connect your cause to people’s lives. Make it easy to give, to help, to communicate with your organization. “Donors expect vision and sound,” Elischer said. Make sure you are keeping up with technology and the pulse of donors.

4. Fully managed baby
Elischer highlighted these points about being fully managed:

• Empathize with donors — talk about them, not you.
• Guerrilla marketing is growing. “Guerrilla marketing is about brain power, not money power,” Elischer said. He shared the examples of Ben & Jerry's giving away free ice cream and having huge sales on that same day, as well as a campaign against child labor in Spain that showcases children's drawings with the slogan "Kids should make drawings, not shoes."
• The mantra for 2010 — LOVE. Love your fundraising like parents loves their children.