Pamela Barden _ Principles of Fundraising, IMHO (Part 3)

By Pamela Barden

For the last two weeks, I have been writing about the principles of fundraising that I give to my students in their last class. These are the "big ideas" I have learned over my career. To recap, the first eight are:

Principle 1: You are NOT the target audience. So figure out who is.
Principle 2: You have to spend money to raise money.
Principle 3: You have to ask to receive.
Principle 4: Use multiple fundraising tools for balance.
Principle 5: Good programs need good fundraising. Good fundraising needs good programs.
Principle 6: Don't mix your messages. When asking for a gift, leave it at that.
Principle 7: Ask your donors for three things throughout the year: A gift. Referrals. A bequest.
Principle 8: A nonprofit is not a business. But if you don't run it like a business, you will go out of business.

Until earlier this week, I only had three more principles, but being a person who likes symmetry in life, I gave some thought to what my 12th principle might be. And while attending the AFP 2013 International Conference on Fundraising in San Diego earlier this week, I had an epiphany. So, here are my now final four principles of fundraising. (Check out Part 1 here and Part 2 here.)