You designed a solid agenda. You delivered a terrific training, with lots of engaging exercises and activities. Everybody learned a lot, laughed a lot, and is anxious to try out their new skills. Now what? Before they return to their busy lives, everyone needs to take a breath, prioritize what they’ve learned, and make a plan. As a … [Read more...]
An exercise that raises money while you do it
Is your board afraid of fundraising? You’re not alone. Most boards find the whole subject taboo. Here’s a real-world example. Imagine that your nonprofit faced the following challenges: Most of your board members are both unskilled at fundraising and anxious about doing it. (Sounds familiar, right?) You board gathers only twice … [Read more...]
Challenge Your Board, Raise More Money
You’re probably familiar with the challenge or matching gift. A generous donor provides a gift or grant on the condition that you raise an equal amount from other sources. These gifts typically require a 1-to-1 match. Each donation you receive is matched dollar for dollar, though other ratios are possible. Challenge gifts are … [Read more...]
Share the Power: Train Everyone to Raise Money
"Who should we invite to our board fundraising training?" asks the curious client. This is often followed by a string of specific questions: “What about the staff? How about our volunteers? The development committee? Should we invite potential board members we are recruiting? How about program staff?” I have a very simple answer: … [Read more...]
Yes We Can: Two Exercises to Inspire Your Board
When I worked as a development director, I gathered our program staff once a year to brainstorm “what if” questions: What if we had all the money we needed? What if we could focus on the work we wanted to do without worrying about the budget – what would we do? What if we had the capacity to try new things and do our work … [Read more...]
Boards and Fundraising: Three Tasks Everyone Can Do
If you ask fundraising professionals to describe their deepest and most enduring fantasy, the answer would sound something like this: “Give me a wealthy board filled with wealthy people who will ask their wealthy friends for money.” Sure, those boards exist, but they are very, very rare. Unless you work with a legacy institution – a … [Read more...]
Turn Your Board into a “Place of We”
Is it hard to get your board members excited about raising money? Our friend Judy Levine of Cause Effective just wrote a terrific piece about the possibility of board members training board members. She delights in the idea that boards can use our new Train Your Board book to train themselves – without a consultant, professional … [Read more...]
Help Your Board Members Become Comfortable Raising Money: A 3-Part Plan
Does the idea of looking like a fool make you happy? Do you enjoy trying out new skills for the first time in front of people you want to impress? I bet you answered these questions with a resounding “NO!” Your Board Members Want to Be Successful Most people want to be successful! They want to be competent and effective. … [Read more...]
You Don’t Need Trainer Machismo to be a Great Fundraising Trainer
I spend a lot of time on the road, leading workshops. I often work alone -- it’s a one-person business. But over the years I’ve built a pretty diverse network of professional peers: trainers, consultants, facilitators, and practitioners of “nonprofit therapy.” This network has been crucial to my success, self-confidence, stamina, … [Read more...]
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