Fundraisers spend time and resources creating messages for cases, proposals and campaigns. But how many of them actually stick?
In his session “Sticky Ideas: How to Make Your Fundraising Messages Powerful and Persuasive” at the 2009 Bridge Conference held last week near Washington, D.C., consultant Bernard Ross defined what makes ideas stick, why sticky ideas work and why they’re essential to fundraising, and how they can be applied by fundraisers in their work with donors, board members and others.
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Every fundraiser has his or her tried-and-true bag of tricks. But in this day of donors seeking to be more actively involved with the charities they support, it might be time to bury those bags and try a fresh approach.
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From the Barack Obama fundraising juggernaut to an ironic, grassroots campaign for Planned Parenthood, fundraising in 2008 was all about relationships — both off- and online. In her “Relationships 2.0” feature, Sarah Durham wrangles the overarching strategies from a number of efforts, which you can use in your own campaigns.How Does Your (Fundraising) Garden Grow?That’s…
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In To the Point this month, Jocelyn Harmon examines the seemingly oxymoronic “millennial philanthropy” phenomenon. And Easier Said Than Done columnist Jeff Brooks breaks down the steps that (could possibly) happen between the Bulk Mail Center and recipients’ trash cans, bringing your brilliant direct-mail effort to a sad and untimely demise. How Does Your (Fundraising)…
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People are talking about you online. Ignoring that fact won’t make it go away, so you’d best join in the conversation. Our “Get Your Head Out of … the Sand” feature outlines best practices for engaging supporters online.How Does Your (Fundraising) Garden Grow?That’s the question that Paula Birnbaum Guillet, head of fundraising development and innovation…
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That’s the question that Paula Birnbaum Guillet, head of fundraising development and innovation at UNICEF, and global fundraising consultant Bernard Ross ask in this month’s cover story, a special report on fundraising innovation. The consensus: If your approach to fundraising is overrun with the weeds of fear and stale thinking, it’s time to sow some seeds of innovation. This report shows you how.
Relationships 2.0
From the Barack Obama fundraising juggernaut to an ironic, grassroots campaign for Planned Parenthood, fundraising in 2008 was all about relationships — both off- and online. In her “Relationships 2.0” feature, Sarah Durham wrangles the overarching strategies from a number of efforts, which you can use in your own campaigns.
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You can, you know. If you want to share your thoughts on something you’ve seen (or would like to see) in the pages of FS or in either of our e-letters (the FS Advisor or FS Giving 2.0) or on fundraising in general, drop us a line at mbattistelli@napco.com. Right now, we’re especially interested in hearing about how the economic downturn is affecting your fundraising, both in strategies and response.
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You’ve almost certainly had the meeting. You know, the one about how to survive the crunch, the crisis, the catastrophe — or whatever you want to call it. The meeting where you probably were uncertain about what to do and even about what the impact might be on your organization. Maybe the only thing everyone agreed on was that it’s a difficult situation in fundraising at the moment with few clear answers on how to survive.
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Technically, this isn’t our typical BlogSpot, but we wanted to include these quotes from the 27th International Fundraising Congress, which took place in the Netherlands last week — and this seemed like as good a place as any to do it. “If you learn nothing else from IFC, you must take away that Major Philanthropy is the new rock ‘n’ roll. If you’re not giving away money — and lots of money if you have it — you’re not cool. Bill and Warren were — as in many other things — simply ahead of the curve.” — Bernard Ross, director of U.K.-based fundraising consultancy
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Ah, whimsy. It really is my thing. So I was totally tickled when Convio President Sheeraz Haji walked into a session being presented by Scottish fundraising powerhouse Bernard Ross at the Bridge Conference in D.C. last month. Sheeraz is quite the nice guy, but it wasn’t his mere presence that gave me the giggles.
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As a fundraiser, you often have to try and influence people: when you’re asking a major donor to help your cause; when you’re trying to get your colleagues to back your plan; when you need to persuade the board to adopt a strategic approach.
In each case, there are times when the influence message seems to arrive easily and times when “they” just don’t seem to understand. In “The Magic of Influence,” to be published by Wiley later this year, we explore how a range of psychological techniques can help fundraisers trying to win over others. This article explores one of these techniques — perceptual positions.
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