The Drafter of Many Appeals

The Drafter of Many Appeals ends the article with ... "But the fact is that motives of pure reason to explain voluntary action are usually difficult of discovery, and not in charitable spheres only..."For some humor in our fundraising work, this week I am reading "The Ethics of giving: The Ratio of Generosity to Income" by "a Drafter of Many Appeals" from the Hospital Magazine, published in 1915.Reflection question: When will you take the time to find the humor in our fundraising work through a Google search of humorous videos or cartoons focused on fundraising or, perhaps, have conversation with a colleague about their funniest moments in this profession?

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Kindness in Giving

Are you watering your fund development goals with worry and desperation? Or, are you watering them with kindness and optimism? How are you embracing the saying, “do your work, and then step back. The only path to serenity”?

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Live in Joy

When was the last time you stepped back to view the greater horizon of the mission you serve? Is it time to step back again and live in the love, health, peace, and joy to see what you get to fundraise for? Think now of donors, who are the donors that you can share that joy of living in the greater horizon of the mission? Not to cultivate, ask, or steward, but to simply have a conversation of joy with them. Who are the donors coming to mind now? Listen to this week’s Reflection on Generosity and join in the comments below.

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Thriving During Fundraising Slumps

Yesterday, I attended a webinar for nonprofit consultants that started with a focus on brain science and stress. The stress we are all consciously or unconsciously facing right now is affecting our ability to plan for the future. With that in mind it is important to consider how the next phase of fundraising during this pandemic will impact you personally in your fund development role. If you have not yet reviewed the research from The Better Fundraising, co. and Jeff Brooks Fundraising on phases of donor generosity during an economic or natural disaster, please download it here. It will be helpful to share with the organization and Board you serve. Credit: The Better Fundraising Co. and Jeff Brooks Fundraising. Download the research summary here. The authors describe the four phases of generosity (as pictured above) as the bump, the slump, the surge, and the new normal. This pandemic bump was quite extraordinary and lasted about 2 months. Network for Good, one of the largest and longest established organizations that receives and distributes donations, saw a 30% year over year increase in donations for both direct and indirect service nonprofits. To put that in context, a 3% increase is considered a conservative, but…

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Finding balance in the daily tasks

When routine fundraising tasks take up more and more of our days, the high value relationship-building, planning or strategic thinking gets squeezed out. How can we manage our anxiety, accomplish the necessary routine tasks and succeed in our relationship building and strategic planning?

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