I’m thrilled to announce that registration is formally open for the 2012 Course in Exponential Fundraising at Harvard. Please go to http://www.hks.harvard.edu/hauser/cef/  for a more detailed description of the program. A Course in Exponential Fundraising is a year-long engagement during which I work with 20 visionary leaders from the nonprofit sector who want to both dramatically improve [...]

Exponential Fundraising founder and 24-year fundraising veteran Jennifer McCrea has worked with CEOs, fundraisers and board members from a wide variety of nonprofits, including Millennium Promise, Acumen Fund, Donorschoose.org, Grameen America, Teach for America, Witness, Columbia University, Quincy Jones Foundation, Comic Relief, X Prize Foundation, VH1 Save the Music Foundation, Creative Commons, MIT Media Lab and many others. [...]

Meet lonely George. George is a seasoned philanthropist.  Someone I’ve known for years. George leads a full, meaningful life that includes giving to a number of global organizations. But he revealed something to me recently that caught me by surprise: that his experience of giving is often profoundly isolating. Wait a minute. Isn’t giving a [...]

“Extremely difficult and demanding.” That’s how a friend describes her relationship with one of her top donors. She says she’s in a “can’t-live-with-him, can’t-live-without-him” bind. She worries that if she tells him what’s really on her mind, he’ll get angry and possibly withdraw his critical support (and very visible name in the community) from her organization. [...]

Recently, an Executive Director asked me if he should bring his Chief Development Officer, an accomplished, seasoned fundraiser, with him on first visits with new prospective partners or wait until he’s established a relationship first and then introduce her. He said he sees the pros and cons to both approaches. My answer, while perhaps not [...]

As a young fundraiser, I was taught the most effective way to ask was to use these words: “Would you like to consider a gift of $xx….” Over the years, as my approach has developed to be partnership-focused than sales-focused, I realized this “ask line” was off the mark. And I likely left a lot [...]

The Quincy Jones MusiQ Consortium is an organization I co-founded that is bringing together nonprofits, corporations, foundations, philanthropists and musicians to ensure that all kids have access to music and music education. At our kickoff meeting, legendary musician and composer Herbie Hancock gave a spontaneous response to a question that moved me as if he [...]

The dates are set for the next Exponential Fundraising workshop:  May 5 and 6 in New York City. Since they are highly interactive and aimed at ensuring a rich and stimulating exchange of ideas among a diverse group of peers, only a small number of spaces are available (no more than 15 participants).  To contact [...]

This was my first post. It remains one of my favorite messages to share. At his TED talk this year, David Brooks said over 90% of what we hear doesn’t come through words. Yet another reason why that whole ‘behind a desk’ just doesn’t work. My first job out of college, 23 years ago, was [...]