We had a full room and lots of enthusiasm from board members and staff at this week’s fundraising workshop in Minneapolis. The session, a three-hour condensed version of my day-and-one-half workshop touched on:
- Fundraising in challenging times
- Sharing the story of your organization
- The power of asking versus inviting
- Donor cultivation
- And more!
Watch the calendar on this site for dates for this same session to be offered in 2009.
One area that we talked about that I’ll share with you here was how fund development work requires time, attention to details and personal contacts with your donors. If you want to have a successful fundraising program, ask yourself what is your commitment to the discipline of fund development?
Some tips for you:
- Acknowledge quickly and make it meaningful.
- Consider “asking” as an “invitation” to honor your clients/constituents.
- Use bold, clear communication that engages and inspires. Report back.
- Customize messages for your key stakeholders and major donors. Don’t change the message if they’ve told you what they are interested in.
- Share the good news and the not so good news.
- Invite donors advice, but be specific.
Happy holidays!
