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 [...]

For years I believed the weathered fundraising maxim that Job One was to convince and convert people to the mission of my specific project. Then they’d give. Then they’d get involved.  What I’ve discovered over the years, though, is that it’s after people write a check that they really start to get involved.  People discover [...]

Be lit from within.  Remind yourself that you aren’t asking people to help you.  Helping implies inequality and that’s not what this is about.  This is about inviting someone to partner with you, to take a stand with you, to work side by side with you.  Remind yourself why you were called to do this work [...]

I’m thrilled to announce that registration is now formally open for my new program at Harvard:  A Course in Exponential Fundraising.  For more information on the program, go here. It’s a year-long engagement where I will be personally working with 20 visionary leaders from the nonprofit sector who want to both dramatically improve their organization’s [...]

No doubt Jeffersonian dinners are a powerful vehicle for connection and action.  Kudos to my good friend Jeff Walker for eloquently pointing this out in his inspiring blog on Jeffersonian Dinners. I was curious, though, why this format, credited to the renaissance man from Virginia, is so much more effective than dinners or events which [...]

Ever wonder if you should recruit – and how best to use – celebrities for your organization’s campaigns?  Should you host a gala or not?  How should you use gaming and technology to maximize your results? Check out the new Exponential Fundraising video series and watch as some of the world’s most insightful nonprofit and [...]

Guest blog by Jeff Walker, bio below. Jeffersonian Dinners Create Transformative Connections Imagine being invited to a dinner in 1819 with Thomas Jefferson, President, scientist and writer of the Declaration of Independence.  Participating in a stimulating conversation with guests that he invited because he found them intriguing and interested in similar things as others at [...]

Last week, over breakfast with a philanthropist, I was asked the same question that I have been asked hundreds of times in my career:  ”Fundraising is such incredibly hard work — what’s the secret?”  My answer is always the same: “I know from the bottom of my heart that people want to make a difference [...]