Introduction 1
About This Book 2
Conventions Used in This Book 2
What You’re Not to Read 2
Foolish Assumptions 3
How This Book Is Organized 3
Icons Used in This Book 5
Where to Go from Here 6
Part I: Putting Your Fundraising Ducks in a Row 7
Chapter 1: Fundraising in a Changing Economy 9
Looking at the Stark Realities 10
Identifying cutbacks and understanding the reasons for them 12
Coping with staff reductions and shrinking budgets 12
Dealing with hard times that linger 13
Finding reliable sources 14
Finding Your Opportunity: A Crisis Is Too Good to Waste 14
Revisiting your mission 14
Paring your services (or pairing up to provide them!) 15
Nurturing the donor-agency relationship 15
Turning to cost-effective processes 16
Talking Up Your Successes and Building Relationships 16
Telling your story well 17
Engaging people who care 17
Developing relationships with key businesses and funders 18
Doing Your Best to Bring In the Dollars 18
Preparing Now for When Things Start Looking Up 19
Laying the groundwork to take advantage of an economic recovery 20
Moving forward with hope 21
Chapter 2: Identifying the Fruits of Your Fundraising Passion 23
Sparking Fundraising Action 24
Remembering why you signed on 24
Helping your donor catch the spark 25
Talking the fundraising talk 27
Building on Passion in the Nonprofit World 29
Competing for dollars 29
Keeping your organization going 30
Demonstrating Your Connection with Social Media 32
Chapter 3: Finding the Right Perspective: Fundraising Issues and Ethics 35
Inspiring or Selling: The Fundraising Debate Continues 35
Living with the stigma 36
Combining sales and ideals 38
Understanding the Ethics of Fundraising 38
Finding ethical standards organizations 39
Familiarizing yourself with the fundraiser’s credo 42
Debunking Fundraising Myths 43
Myth 1: It’s all about the money 43
Myth 2: You lie to get what you want 44
Myth 3: Your donor owes the world something 45
Myth 4: Wining and dining donors is all you do 46
Chapter 4: Writing Your Case Statement: Your Agency’s Reason to Be 47
Stating Your Case 48
Understanding what the case statement is and how you use it 48
Getting started with your case statement 48
Making the Case Compelling 50
A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing the Case Statement 52
Step 1: The mission: Why are you here? 52
Step 2: The goals: What do you want to accomplish? 55
Step 3: The objectives: How will you reach your goals? 55
Step 4: Programs: What exactly do you provide? 57
Step 5: Governance: What’s the anatomy of your board? 57
Step 6: Staff: Who are the people behind your services? 58
Step 7: Location: Where do you live and work? 58
Step 8: Finances: Is your organization financially responsible? 59
Step 9: Development: What will you do in the future? 60
Step 10: History: What successes are you building on? 61
Overhauling an Outdated Case Statement 62
Sharing Your Case Statement 63
Formatting your case 63
From paper to online posts: Putting the case statement to work 64
Chapter 5: Organizing Your Team: Board Members and Volunteers 65
Seeing the Big Picture: How Boards and Fundraising Fit Together 66
Understanding the board’s duties 66
Knowing how your role fits with the board’s work 67
Enlisting the Board to Help Advance Your Cause 68
Helping the board help you in fundraising 69
Balancing the attraction of high-profile board members 70
Walking your Board through Tough Decisions 71
Slating and prioritizing your issues 72
Knowing when to use reserved funds 73
Figuring out when to launch into unchartered waters 74
Helping your organization find clarity in challenging times 75
Discovering the True Value of Volunteers 76
Seeking volunteers 77
Establishing a productive relationship 78
Using your volunteers as fundraisers 79
Making use of baby boomers: Retirees as volunteers 80
Chapter 6: Creating a Winning Fundraising Plan 83
Drafting the Perfect Plan 83
Starting with the case statement 84
Identifying your goals 84
Building a needs statement 85
Assessing your existing resources 86
Determining what you need 87
Setting your financial targets 87
Putting the all-powerful giving pyramid to work 88
Getting started with the right methods 90
Discovering fundraising markets 91
Avoiding Plan Busters like the Plague 93
Budgeting Your Fundraising Efforts 94
Making sure you include everything in your budget but don’t overbudget 96
Figuring out the cost of raising money 97
Turning Elsewhere for Assistance 97
Knowing when to outsource 98
Using fundraising software 99
Part II: Finding — and Winning Over — Donors 101
Chapter 7: Getting the Lowdown on Your Donors 103
Finding Your Stakeholders 103
Recognizing Your Bread and Butter: Individual Donors 105
Understanding donor levels 105
Identifying possible donors 106
Doing Business with Corporate Donors 107
Finding Foundations That Care 107
Asking Your Board All the Right Questions 108
Where did you forget to expand your donor base? 108
Whom did you forget to ask? 109
Checking Out Potential Donors 111
Pursuing promising prospects 111
Finding the silver lining with unlikely prospects 111
Researching the Internet Way 112
Keeping Track of Your Donors and Their Contributions 113
Creating an effective donor information form 114
Keeping good donor records 115
Maintaining Confidence: The Issues and Ethics of Handling Personal Data 115
Chapter 8: Meeting Your Donor 117
Evaluating the Importance of a Visit 117
Preparing to Meet Potential Donors 118
Examining the Giving Relationship between the Donor and the Agency 119
Showing donors the value of their gifts 120
Getting more than money from your donors 121
Checking out what motivates giving 122
Considering Your Donor’s Context 124
Engaging donors with limited means (for now) 125
Connecting with affluent donors 126
Meeting reluctant retirees on their level 126
Cultivating the Initial Relationship 127
Chapter 9: Cultivating Major Givers 129
Seeking a Major Gift Today for Tomorrow 129
Finding the Holy Grail of Fundraising — The Major Gift 131
Planning your way to major gifts 131
Cultivating donors who have a lot to give 133
Recognizing Major Donors for Their Contributions 137
Meeting your donors’ expectations 138
Providing donor recognition 140
Chapter 10: Asking for a Major Gift 141
Pushing through the Fear by Focusing on the Greater Goal 141
Accepting that you have to talk about money 142
Understanding that no doesn’t equal failure 143
Remembering that you’re a donor, too 144
Checking Out Your Attitudes about Money 144
True or False: Money is an exchange mechanism 145
True or False: Money is the root of all evil 145
True or False: Money can’t buy happiness 145
True or False: Money talks 146
Figuring Out Who Should Ask for Money 147
Teaming up for dollars 148
Flying solo 149
Developing the Mechanics of Asking 149
Recognizing the equitable exchange 150
Using the tools of the trade 150
Knowing the donor 151
Checking out each step of “the Ask” 152
Moving Beyond No 153
Rating Your Yes-Ability 155
Following Up after “the Ask” 156
Chapter 11: Writing Winning Grant Proposals 157
Getting a Grip on Grants 158
Identifying Different Grant Givers 158
Choosing the Right Project to Get Funded 159
Starting from the ground up: Seed money 159
Expanding your reach: Program funds 160
Building for the future: Capital campaigns 161
Laying the Groundwork for Grant Seeking 161
Turning to your board for support 162
Developing a grant proposal writing strategy 162
Looking at the grant process, step by step 163
Finding the Right Funder 164
Starting your search for funders 164
Zeroing in on your fundraising category 165
Using local sources first 166
Working your way away from home 166
Digging deeper to find the right grantor 167
Inquiring about Letters of Inquiry and Grant Guidelines 168
Getting Down to Business: Writing the Proposal 169
Creating a comprehensive cover letter 170
Providing an overview with the executive summary 171
Introducing your idea 171
Stating your program’s needs 172
Outlining program goals, objectives, and evaluations 172
Detailing the program budget and budget narrative 173
Explaining your leadership, staffing, and location 173
Sharing your organization’s history 174
Including the necessary extras 174
Following Up on Your Proposal 174
Putting a Positive Spin on No 175
Seeing Your Grant as a Relationship 176
Part III: Telling Your Story and Building Your Brand 177
Chapter 12: Connecting for Profits: Sharing Your Story by Print, Mail, and Phone 179
Thinking through Your Communications Strategy 180
Evaluating your communications costs 180
Considering your communications options 182
Crafting a communications approach 183
The list! The list! Pull out your donor list! 184
Printing Only What You Need 184
Saving money on printing 186
Showing progress with an annual report 186
Taking the Direct (Mail) Approach 187
When direct mail works: Asking current donors to give again 188
When the most direct mail is e-mail 189
Figuring out what to send 190
To Call or Not to Call 191
Making your callers the good guys 191
Knowing your no-call responsibilities 192
Working the phones with a positive attitude 193
Chapter 13: Projecting Your Image in the Media 195
Getting the Media Exposure You Want 195
Realizing what the media can do for you 196
Making the first contact 198
Coming up with story ideas for the media 199
Working in Sound Bites: Public Service Announcements 200
Looking Good on Television 201
Seeking airtime on the small screen 201
Preparing for a television interview 201
Remembering on-air cues 202
Taking Advantage of Print Opportunities 203
Making yourself quotable 204
Fixing mistakes in print 204
Leveraging Online Coverage 205
Posting your story everywhere 206
Filling a need for news with news feeds and blogs 206
Crisis Control: When Media Attention Is Unwanted 206
Getting the crisis under control fast 207
Drafting a disaster control plan 208
Chapter 14: Social Networking: What’s the Connection for Your Organization? 209
Getting Started with Social Media 210
Surveying the basics of social media 210
Identifying who uses social media and what they can do for you 211
Building a Community of People Who Care 212
Feeling all a-Twitter 212
Connecting constituents with LinkedIn 214
Sharing the love on Facebook 215
Understanding What Your Social Media Users Want 217
Visibility and voice: Here we are! 218
Engagement and opportunity: Let me help 218
The freedom to choose: I want it my way 218
Taking the Plunge into Social Media 219
Making sure your messages work together 219
Tracking and evaluating results 220
Creating credibility and security in social media 221
The Big Dilemma: To Ask or Not to Ask? 222
Chapter 15: Getting the Most from E-Mail and E-Newsletters 223
Making the Case for E-Mail 223
Being Smart about E-Mail Campaigns 225
Figuring out who should receive your e-mails 225
Knowing what to say 226
Writing an e-mail that gets the results you’re looking for 229
Avoiding E-Mail Mistakes 230
Don’t use e-mail to spam 230
Don’t be a sloppy e-mailer 230
Understanding the Power of E-Newsletters 231
Catering to your donors’ interests 231
Creating your e-newsletter 231
Adding multimedia pizzazz 232
Automating e-newsletter delivery 233
Keep ’em coming back 233
Chapter 16: Ramping Up Your Web Site 235
Seeing How a Web Site Helps with Fundraising 235
Putting Your Web Site to Work for Your Organization 236
Evaluating your Web site 237
Building credibility for your organization 238
Adding Content and Keeping It Fresh 239
Putting your contact information front and center 239
Including information that saves time 240
Writing content yourself 240
Using existing materials 240
Linking to content on other Web sites 241
Considering the value of online media 242
Attracting Visitors to Your Site 242
Showing up in search engine results 243
Getting linked by other sites 244
Collecting Donations Online 244
Chapter 17: Extending Your Brand Online 247
Knowing Your Branding Basics 247
Assessing Your Brand 248
Tweaking your brand 249
Developing brand strategies 250
Blogging Your Way to Funds 250
Figuring the cost of blogs 251
Building your brand with an effective blog 252
Publishing Online to Boost Your Branding and Credibility 252
Getting published 252
Creating good online content 253
Joining Online Communities: Discussion Groups 254
Checking out nonprofi t discussion groups 254
Promoting yourself through discussion groups 255
Partnering Online through Affi nity Programs 256
Connecting with People through Association and Special-Interest Sites 257
Part IV: Engaging Your Givers with the Right Campaigns 259
Chapter 18: Organizing, Implementing, and Celebrating Your Annual Fund 261
Understanding the Basics of Annual Funds 261
Designing Your Annual Campaign 263
Setting your goals 264
Timing your annual fund 266
Assembling your team 266
Choosing your fundraising tools 268
Rating your organization 271
Putting the Plan in Place 272
Understanding your approach: Donor research and planning 272
Choosing your materials 272
Five signs your plan is falling flat (and what to do about it) 274
Evaluating (And Celebrating) Your Annual Fund Drive 275
Planning for Next Time 276
Chapter 19: Planning a Special Event 277
Seeing How a Special Event Benefits Your Organization 278
Planning, Planning, Planning! 278
Putting together the best team 279
Selecting an event 280
Deciding the when and where 281
Setting expectations 282
Budgeting for the special event 282
Setting a timeline 283
Black Tie Optional: Organizing an Online Event 284
Using Webinars to inform and persuade 284
Chatting online with celebrities 285
Following Up after the Big Event 285
Measuring goodwill 286
Evaluating the event’s outcomes 286
Saying “Thank you!” 287
Gathering event lessons for next time 288
Chapter 20: Building Buildings, Nonbuildings, and Futures:
The Capital Campaign 289
Gearing Up for the Big Campaign 290
Exploring Capital Campaign Types 291
Building bricks-and-mortar campaigns 291
Checking out endowment campaigns 291
Putting together project campaigns 292
Running combined campaigns 292
Selecting a Champion 293
Staging the Campaign 294
Testing the waters: Campaign feasibility 295
Setting your goal 297
Identifying lead gifts and challenge gifts 298
Going public 299
Following up with your capital campaign 300
Debriefing everybody 301
Chapter 21: Securing Major Gifts, Planned Gifts, and the Challenge Grant 303
Making a Perfect Match 304
Deciding on the major gift amounts for your organization 304
Getting to the heart of the major giver 305
Valuing the relationship: Stewardship in action 307
Creating a major gift strategy 308
Preparing for Planned Gifts 309
Getting the gift that keeps on giving 310
Differentiating planned giving from other types of giving 311
Timing is key: Knowing when to start 311
Gearing up for planned giving 312
Making Money Go the Extra Mile: Challenge Grants 316
Understanding how challenge grants work 318
Managing a challenge grant 319
Chapter 22: Engaging the Corporate Giver 321
Understanding the Attitudes behind Corporate Giving 321
Making a difference in the community 322
You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours: Cause-related marketing 323
Finding the Right Corporations for Your Organization 324
Using the local community hook 325
Discovering where the CEO’s heart lies 326
Finding out what serves the company’s interests 326
Approaching a Corporate Donor 327
Researching the corporation ahead of time 327
Knowing your value to the donor 329
Putting together your presentation 329
Following up in a businesslike way 330
Chapter 23: Building and Growing Endowments 331
Endowing the Future 331
Understanding what an endowment is 332
Deciding whether you can (and should) build an endowment 333
Building an Endowment 334
Getting your board to buy in 334
Explaining the value to donors 335
Making an endowment part of your overall fundraising effort 335
Managing an Endowment 336
Providing oversight and establishing policies 336
Seeking professional help to manage endowment dollars 337
Part V: The Part of Tens 339
Chapter 24: Ten Predictions about Fundraising 341
Chapter 25: Ten (Plus One) Great Opening Lines 349
Index 353
John Mutz is a fundraising expert and speaker who has an extensive array of fundraising credits, including former chairman of the United Way Campaign of Central Indiana and former president of one of the nation's largest private foundations. Katherine Murray is a writer and small-business owner who consults with small and struggling nonprofits. She is the author of more than 40 books, including Green Home Computing For Dummies.
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