Always ask for a specific amount. When you ask someone to consider a gift in a range (“Would you consider a gift of $25,000-50,000?”) it may be easier for you, the solicitor, to get the ask out. But it’s simply not as effective.  Mostly, people will give at the lower level, if they give at all. Why?  Two reasons. [...]

Here’s a handy rule of thumb:  ask for something in every meeting. You don’t always have to ask for a gift, but don’t leave without asking for something.  Maybe it’s to host a dinner or to introduce you to someone whom you’ve been wanting to meet. But get in the habit of asking. It strengthens [...]

Here’s a fundraising secret:  if at all possible, don’t meet people in their offices. Meet over a meal or a coffee. Why?  Because aside from the obvious office distractions and time limitations, people are deeply in their “roles” while enthroned behind their desks. This dynamic presents a stubborn barrier when you are setting the conditions for an [...]

Fundraising should be a highly productive and joyful experience – one that is integral to, not separate from, your organization’s mission. Here are my top 10 tips for “going Exponential” 1.  Be radiant This is rule #1 for a critical reason.  Who would you want to spend time and partner with – people who drink [...]

At your next board meeting, ask each board member to articulate your organization’s “30-second elevator pitch.” In my many experiences of this exercise, most can’t do it. I’ve been to lots of board meetings where we’ve spent hours drafting and redrafting the 30-second elevator pitch. We’ve obeyed, step by step, marketing positioning templates from the [...]

Try this:  instead of asking prospective partners “Will you help me?” ask them “How can we work on this together?”  ’Helping,’ even when grounded in clarity and passion on your part, sets up a kind of inequality, not a partnership. This simple shift in language from ‘helping’ to ‘working together’ is a powerful way to set the conditions for [...]

Try this: when meeting someone for the first time, consider clearing the elephant out of the room by saying right up front, “I’m not going to ask you for a gift today.”  I find this to be effective in eliminating one of the main obstacles to building a relationship: not listening. If you know that [...]

Urgency is a time-tested technique for fundraising. Turning the urgency dial to “Hot” in times of crises is entirely appropriate and necessary.  After the tsunami in Indonesia, after the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile, after scores of similar natural disasters, there is critical need for quick, decisive action and resource mobilization. The interesting thing, though, about [...]

Fundraising is a practice, a craft, characterized at its best by creativity, collaboration and a deep, human connection.  It is about enabling people to discover what is important in their lives, and it is much more about transformation than it is about transactions. We miss something very important when we are focused on selling people. [...]