Everything anyone needs to know about fundraising can be summed up in a five-step process. Find prospects who are concerned about The Problem your mission exists to solve. Connect with them. Ask them to solve The Problem with their financial support. Thank them - profusely - for doing so. Report back to them - tell … Continue reading The Absolutely Foolproof Five-Step Fundraising Plan
Author: T. Clay Buck, CFRE
Is Fundraising Sales? (And Does It Matter?)
There are literally 5 versions of this blog in my drafts folder. I keep coming back to it because the question keeps coming up and I keep falling - leaping? - into the conversations. Fundamentally this is a matter of opinion and semantics. I am firmly in the camp that Fundraising is not sales and … Continue reading Is Fundraising Sales? (And Does It Matter?)
National Philanthropy Day 2017
Opening Remarks at AFP Las Vegas' National Philanthropy Day Celebration Tuesday, November 14, 2017 Good morning and welcome to AFP Las Vegas’ celebration of National Philanthropy Day. On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Las Vegas chapter and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, I want to thank you for being here and extend … Continue reading National Philanthropy Day 2017
Advice to a Young Fundraiser on His 23rd Birthday
The older I get the more grateful I am for the mentors I had when I started fundraising. More and more, I find myself remembering their advice and understanding why we did things the way they did, lo, these many decades ago. Those of us that have been doing this for awhile (remember 3 x … Continue reading Advice to a Young Fundraiser on His 23rd Birthday
What I Learned At #TLCC2017
I have a confession to make. I'm a conference junkie. Fundraising and nonprofit conferences, specifically. I've been fortunate to attend (and blog about) a couple recently: the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference and the AFP International Conference. I'm just home from the Tessitura Learning and Community Conference in San Diego. Five full days of talking about software. … Continue reading What I Learned At #TLCC2017
Happy New Year’s Eve
For all of you celebrating the end of the fiscal year today, June 30 . . . Happy New Year! May your goals be reached and exceeded. May your thank you letters be on time. May your stewardship game be strong. May your gift entry be swift. And accurate. May your finance department be supportive. … Continue reading Happy New Year’s Eve
Every F***ing* Thing Works
They do. All of them. Every Fundraising Thing Works There's a lot of great advice out there about fundraising - countless blogs, webinars, articles, white papers. And they all have very, very good guidance and examples of a program that worked. And they leave a lot of front line fundraisers thinking, "I should REALLY … Continue reading Every F***ing* Thing Works
What I Learned at #AFPFC 2017
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), of which I am a member and President of the Las Vegas chapter, hosted its annual International Conference on Fundraising this week in San Francisco. It was a long and powerful three days, full of inspiration, great insight and comparing notes with some of the smartest, finest people in … Continue reading What I Learned at #AFPFC 2017
Fundraising or Money-Raising?
Clerk: Your total is $blahblahblah, would you like to add a dollar to support children puppies hungry old homeless high-school band? Me: Uhhh, no, not today. Clerk: Yeah, cheers, thanks, thanks a lot. *sigh* I know these kinds of programs raise a lot of critically-needed money for a lot of great organizations - and the … Continue reading Fundraising or Money-Raising?
Rant on Retention
I like to think that professionals in all fields get together and rant and complain about their profession. I have to believe that there are forums for pipe fitters and physician's assistants and marketers to get together and go, "They're hiring people with no experience as experts! Nobody takes the profession seriously! These CEOs think … Continue reading Rant on Retention
Annual Fund Lab 