People Magazine

If you don't know where you're going, it's kind of hard to get there April 5, 2005 By Margaret Battistelli Editor-in-Chief FundRaising Success "Chesire Puss," Alice began, "would you please tell me which way I ought to go from here?" "That depends on where you want to get to," said the cat. "I don't much care where," said Alice. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the cat. Ah, the wisdom of Lewis Caroll. But who knew he could be such a valuable leader in the field of fundraising? Edith Falk ... apparently. Falk, president of the Chicago-based philanthropic firm Campbell &

How Do You Plan to Use the Internet as Part of Your Next Special-Event Fundraiser?

Organization: International Women’s Health Coalition, New York City, founded in 1984 by Joan Dunlop and Adrienne Germain to generate health and population policies, programs and funding that promote and protect the rights and health of girls and women worldwide. 

For the past 27 years, I’ve been recruiting senior-level development professionals and training younger, aspiring individuals to be fundraising consultants and executive recruiters in the nonprofit world.

In all my years of consulting with nonprofit leaders and their boards, I’ve learned that finding and holding on to great talent is no easy feat, yet it’s one of the most pivotal factors contributing to an organization’s success in fundraising.

All acquisition packages should be this effortless to navigate and still maintain an effective degree of emotion, credibility and urgency. New York’s Lighthouse International, which raises funds to help blind and impaired-vision individuals secure the skills and resources they need to live independent lives, is crystal clear about its mission, its needs and its prospects’ needs.

Steven B. Nasatir, president, Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago for 25 years. Chicago’s largest social-welfare organization, JUF/Federation raises funds to bring food, refuge, healthcare, education and emergency assistance to 300,000 Chicagoans of all faiths and 2 million Jews worldwide, conducting an annual campaign of $70 million and generating total revenues of approximately $200 million annually.

Recent do-not-call legislation has turned telefundraising into a battlefield. To speak on the current state of soliciting donations through the telephone lines is Jon Hamilton, CEO of Authtel Permission Solutions and president of JHA Telemanagement. Hamilton, a former president of the American Teleservices Association and chair of the Direct Marketing Association’s Telephone Marketing Council, spoke recently at the DMA Annual Teleservices Conference in Palm Beach, Fla.

Not all leaders with vision have the ability to fund their own dreams, writes Nick G. Costa, senior vice president of fund development for Stamford Health System and author of the new book, Dream Builders: Everything You Need to Know to Achieve Your Organization’s Most Ambitious Dreams with TOP GIFTS™ Fundraising.

Every fundraising campaign has its challenges. And time usually is of the essence. But some campaigns have time restraints that are more compelling than others.

Such was the case when the American Battle Monuments Commission needed to raise funds to build the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.

When Craig Carpenter took over as director of development at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission in March 2002, it was the worst of times and, well, it was the worst of times. The country was still in shock from the events of Sept. 11, 2001. War was looming, the economy was reeling, and the stock market was tumbling. People were afraid to open their mail for fear of being infected with anthrax.