Building a Culture of Philanthropy #2: The Donor as Part of Your Mission

It was one of my worst days ever as a fundraiser.  Being young and ambitious, I was going to show my boss that I could bring in the money.  Besides, the board member I was about to ambush that day had it coming.  He hadn’t given in years and the guy was worth...

Building a Culture of Philanthropy: What Does it Look Like?

Okay, I’m admittedly killing two birds with one stone here.  Next week Richard and I  have scheduled a virtual conference with Fundraising Success magazine on the topic of “The Culture of Philanthropy” and since I have to prepare for that I might as bring you along...

Transporting Your Donor to the Scene: Trouble Talking About the Need

In this series on Transporting Your Donor To The Scene we have been talking about need, how to identify it, how to identify the cause of it and how to document what will happen if the need is not met. Throughout this series I have alluded to the fact that talking...

Transporting Your Donor to the Scene: Zeroing In on the Need

You know what it feels like when you show up to a program site – and it could be program involving people or program involving animals or the environment.  You know what it feels like. Just take a moment now to fix your memory on the experience. You show up.  There...

Stewarding The Kids & Relatives of Donors Who Give Estate Gifts

I have been tracking the journey of a donor who is no longer with us, but gave a gift of over $800 million dollars to a non-profit before he passed away. How can I be tracking the journey of a donor who has passed away? Because this donor not only gave the...