One of the hardest parts of fundraising is determining how much to ask someone for. Bryan and Greg take on this topic today and discuss the process and best practices they take to determine: how much should you ask for?

In this episode, Greg presents a solution to how Catholic schools can avoid mission drift while still benefitting from modern fundraising. Also, Greg eats a little bit of crow pie from his arguments in part one.

Have Catholic schools changed? Greg suspects they have. He channels his 30+ years fundraising for Catholic education to navigate the difference he sees occurring in the schools of old with the schools of today. Greg ends with a question for you the listener. You won’t want to miss this first discussion on why Catholic schools are now “all grown up.”

Why can’t you raise money behind a desk? Major fundraising happens when you get out and see people. How many visits should you aim to make? Should you be asking for a gift every time? Bryan leads this topic as he and Greg discuss the logic and best practices to highlight this truth: you can’t raise money behind a desk.

Transparent fundraising should sound a bit redundant. Yet non-profits face frequent decisions of how transparent to be with donors. How much do they need to know? Bryan discusses his approach to this topic.

Competition can be a great motivating force. But, one of the traps fundraisers face is to see competition in an unhealthy way: an “us vs them” outlook regarding other charities. Today, Bryan talks with Greg about how competition can be healthy and unhealthy. They discuss who(or what) your real competition is in fundraising.

One of the biggest mistakes in development is to assume the person you need to see will say no. Professionals and volunteers will often do this before they ever even pick up the phone! Greg shares his 10th and final Principle of Development Strategy. Listen as he and Bryan discuss how to avoid this kind of “Stinkin Thinkin”.

What exactly did Little Jane teach Greg on her first birthday? The simple but true principle of development: the more personal the appeal, the more likely the person will say yes, and the bigger the gift. When you take the time and care to personalize your approach, greater results for your charity and cause will follow. Listen in as Greg and Bryan discuss this 9th of 10 principles.

In this episode, Bryan eats crow pie in regards to fundraising events. In a prior episode, Bryan shared his dislike for events as an effective way to fundraise. However, his organization just put on an event which raised $500,000. How? Bryan discusses with Greg the keys to making an event a major opportunity.