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?