Face-to-face Fundraising

It is true that people give to people. If you are interested in a long and satisfying career in fundraising, get out of the office and engage others. You will be amazed at what you’ll learn about others and yourself...

In this post-truth age, anyone who pretends they’re listening when they’re not may well be among the most under-informed, misguided and misled folks of all. It’s shocking to realize that people who’ve been nodding vigorously in agreement with you for decades may just have been humoring you all along, may have had little or no intention of actually doing what you thought they were so very enthusiastic about...

Have you ever heard that quote in the title? If not, you might want to brush up on your sales skills. It could be the difference between getting a donation or not. Let’s set the record straight, I’m not diminishing fundraising as just “sales.” I’m elevating sales as a process and technique to help us be more successful in our fundraising...

Ask your Magic 8-Ball about the state of charitable giving in the next few years, and there’s a good chance it’ll tell you “outlook good.” As long as it’s getting its info from Marts & Lundy and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, that is...

Some years ago, I was having dinner with a client and her husband, Bill. In the course of the meal, it came up that Bill was going to be doing a DIY event to raise money for breast cancer research, and they asked if I would consider sponsoring Bill for $100 for his event…

The day after Thanksgiving, the holidays hit full-force. And it’s not just the radio stations blasting “Here Comes Santa Claus” every half hour—it’s the shopping frenzies of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Thankfully, (no pun intended) for the past four years, we’ve had a day to shift the focus away from materialism and back to the true spirit of the holidays: Giving Tuesday...

Just as many nonprofit organizations have one-size-fits-all fundraising appeals, they also tend to treat all their donors the same. “What’s wrong with that?” you say. “Are they supposed to give the big guys special treatment?” Well, yes—and no...

We didn’t call it “peer-to-peer fundraising” at first. Back in the late ’90s and early ’00s, some of us were excited by the prospect of bringing traditional fundraising activities online. One of the big areas of focus was the pledge-based special event. Historically, these campaigns occurred offline using just pens, paper pledge-forms, cash and checks.…

I travel from time to time to Chicago for mandatory meetings, which I enjoy attending because I can interact with a variety of colleagues. During a recent trip, I had dinner with several senior peers where we thoroughly discussed special events. I have not been responsible for a significant special event for several years, so I listened intently. I am always interested in building new fundraising pipelines...

Wall Street investors famously coined the phrase, “It’s all about the Benjamins,” referring to the hundred dollar bill that bears Benjamin Franklin’s likeness. As it turns out, Franklin can give us a few tips about how to maximize fundraising dollars...