The Elusive Silver Bullet
Like all Buzzfeed junkies, I love lists (and personality quizzes)!
Jason McNeal of Jason’s Blog has put together a list of 21 Advancement Truths—you know the immutable laws of good fundraising. Below are my top ten, but you can check out Jason’s full list here.
- Giving is good.
- Doing the fundamentals consistently is “the silver bullet.”
- The success of your ask was determined during the cultivation.
- Donors don’t give to institutions, they give through institutions.
- And they give through institutions to people they trust.
- You have a case for support only when you can concisely answer the question, “why should anyone care?”
- In making your most effective case for support, keep in mind that too many numbers numb, but stories are stored.
- It’s not about you #1: Your job is not to strengthen your relationship with the donor. Your job is to strengthen the donor’s belief in the goodness of your institution’s mission.
- Engagement isn’t sending out the magazine. True engagement is the process of asking meaningful questions and actively listening to the responses.
- How you treat donors after they make a commitment says far more about how you value them as people than how you treated them before they committed.
Find the full list at Jason’s Blog.
