Fundraising Growth Now!

In the past decade, the Sacramento Philharmonic & Opera has journeyed from near-insolvency to a sustainable fiscal and artistic future. Bob Swaney interviews the SP&O’s CEO, Giuliano Kornberg, along with Giuliano's longtime mentor, Paul Hogle, President & CEO of the Cleveland Institute of Music, to discuss the details of the incredible organizational success story, with a hint of what lies ahead. 

Apologies for the slight technical issues encountered during the recording and editing of this episode.

In an earlier episode a few weeks ago, Bob shared a few of his favorite quotes. We all like funny, smart, creative sayings, the kind that remind us to be our best, do our best, and forge onward. But like with all things, there’s another side to this coin, and we frequently hear quotes that are limiting and, yes, irritating.

This episode will highlight a few of those less-favored sayings—the ones we at RSC Associates tend to avoid using. You will no doubt agree that at least one of these sayings is designed to limit, not expand, creativity and productivity.

When developing the fundraising message, how do YOU promote your arts organization? What words do you use? What stories do you tell? Many staff, board, and artists have a tough time answering. Let’s touch on how to get better at telling your organizational story and selling it, too.

At RSC Associates, we help clients build their messages balanced on Facts, Finances, and Feelings. The first two – facts and finances are fairly easy for anyone to pull together based on the information on hand. However, the “feelings” that can strongly influence a donor prospect can often be a ‘miss’ in the message. Without the ‘feelings’, the facts and finances fall flat. Facts and finances “Tell,” while Feelings “Sell.” This episode will help you find that sweet-spot in balancing your message.  

In this episode, we're tackling a topic that every fundraiser has faced at some point: excuses for not making a major philanthropic gift. We’ll review the top ten reasons we often hear and, more importantly, what arts organizations can do to be more persuasive. We’re also going to get honest about what those reasons might truly indicate yet remain unspoken by your donors. 

RSC’s fundraising coaching approach is geared toward time-tested best practices and fundamentals that arts and cultural organizations can rely on to grow their fundraising programs. However, we must always adapt best practices to present-day realities. This installment features RSC's CEO, Catherine Heitz New, who joins Bob Swaney in a lively discussion about adapting the fundamentals to a changing philanthropic environment.

In recent years, there’s been a shift towards what I like to call the "power of sharing stories." This approach goes beyond just telling a story; it's about fostering meaningful conversations and genuine connections between donors and our beloved arts organizations. It’s what the true meaning of the word “inclusive” should be in a philanthropic environment.

I like clever sayings, fun saying and sayings that help me remember to be focused and effective. So today, and out of several dozen such sayings, I’m going share ten of my favorites – most of which I use regularly. I thought it might be fun to describe the saying, tell you where I heard it and what it means to me, especially when applied to fundraising in the arts. I hope you like these, too, and find some value and application in hearing them.

There are numerous reasons why fundraising staff and volunteers won’t ask a prospect for support without a lot of feet-dragging. Whether it’s for annual giving, a major gift or a planned gift, hesitation often seems more comfortable than taking action.

This episode addresses the causes for delays in asking for support, and what you and your team can do to get out of your comfort zone and instead, 'err on the side of asking'.

Sometimes arts and cultural organizations treat their board like artificial intelligence, as if every board member should be all-knowledgeable and flawlessly responsive bots to answer questions, reveal solutions and be ready, willing and able to advance the herculean tasks to advance our arts organization. However, they should make themselves available only when we decide they are needed. It’s ok to treat A.I. this way, but don’t treat board members like this.

This episode explores activating the board from the viewpoint of the board member, and what your arts organization can do to better encourage and equip your board to be part of a productive fundraising program.

We explore a pain point for most any arts organization: hiring fundraising staff. There are too many jobs for too few qualified professionals in the arts, and the expectations for staff to produce are always high. This episode outlines some of the top challenges faced by arts and cultural organizations when hiring fundraising staff, followed by the five truly ineffective yet commonly used recruitment techniques, and finishing with a handful of “best of” hiring practices that may help during your next search.