The topic of this month’s Personal Branding magazine is philanthropy. I was honored to be invited to submit an article and have found myself in an issue alongside a number of my sheros and heros of the nonprofit community: Beth Kanter, Rosetta Thurman, Marc A. Pitman, Roger Carr, Paul Young of Charity: Water and more.
My article “Can You Teach People How to Fundraise” is a true story from a training session I led with the board and staff of a local nonprofit a few years ago. The dread that was pervasive at the beginning of the session changed to excitement and a desire to take immediate action by the end of the session.
Since that session thousands of dollars have now been raised from individual donors by the board members; dollars that may have gone to other organizations if they hadn’t invited participation.
Here are the guidelines I shared in my article about teaching people to fundraise: (excerpt from Personal Branding, August 2010 issue)
- Acknowledge current donors via phone with a warm, personal thank you.
- Deepen supporters’ relationship by learning why they give.
- Each time you share what is going well, share an example of how more money will impact one person.
- Don’t take “no” personally. It’s not about you.
- Break down the support needed into bite-size amounts. For example, support a child per day, per week or month.
- Share short stories of real people impacted by your work. You allow others to feel great when you invite them to help save or change a life.
To read my full article and great information from others check out the August issue of Personal Branding.
