Fundraiser Education

If you or someone you know is either looking for an MGO position or just started in one, I’m going to give you a road map for what to do in your first 60 days. If you follow this road map, you will not only start out your position on the right foot, but you will also give your manager a sigh of relief and, ultimately, comfort your donors. There are two things you need to concentrate on...

Believe it or not, my Elvis obsession helped me arrive here, right at this video from University of Cambridge. Elvis has played a central, deified role in his life and in the lives of the women who knew him. But in this video, he’s cast as a more peripheral character. In the short clip, a Cambridge historian narrates the fascinating history of teenage fundraising in 1950s America...

Everyone is out of the office and the long weekend looms almost within reach. So, we're taking it easy today, and you should too—by kicking back and reading (or re-reading!) some of these stories you may have missed in 2016. These aren't our most-read stories or even the most important ones, but they're a selection of our personal favorites, those we most enjoyed writing and reading...

It is hard to believe that 2017 is almost here. Where did the time go? Many of us had a fiscal year that started in July 2016, so we are at halftime in this fundraising year. Others are just beginning a new calendar year filled with hope and possibilities. Wherever you are in the fundraising calendar continuum, you should take a moment to stop, look and evaluate before you jump without a parachute into 2017...

I know that many of us have sent out our year-end appeal letter, or are in the process of doing so. Some of us are pouring our blood, sweat and tears into these letters, sometimes literally, with the paper cuts and the occasional weeping over the hundreds or thousands of letters that need to be…

We’re rapidly approaching the close of what has been a tumultuous year. In 2016, the U.S. experienced an unusually bitter presidential campaign culminating in the unexpected election of Donald Trump. In the U.K., voters chose to exit the European Union—the surprise Brexit vote sent shockwaves around the globe. The civil war in Syria continued to…

In part three of this fundraising and football series last week, we discussed campaigns being a rallying call and the benefits of utilizing people in their most effective roles. This week, we’re covering two more things fundraisers can learn from the game: keeping score and being part of a winning team...

It's the truth: As a sector, we’re accustomed to dysfunction. Sometimes we're mired in it. We’re used to a mentality of lack, rather than embracing the abundance that surrounds us. We’re so busy trying to pinch pennies that the dollars are whizzing by us. And we're often oblivious to that. This becomes our "normal." But it isn't right...

What's worse in fundraising: Doing what everyone is doing? Or following your own path? The answer, of course, is it depends. The downside of carefully following "best practices" is articulated by The Agitator, at "Losing Donors In The Sea of Sameness." They call it herd behavior and "sloppy, copycat practices." Which is frequently true. But…

Think of the impact of time, talent and treasure the nonprofit sector provides on a macro level in the U.S. in a given year. Millions of men, women and children receive free benefits from thousands of organizations dedicated to serving populations in need. What would happen if these organizations did not exist?...