Is it important to thank you donors? Yes, absolutely. You should always be thanking your donors. Always saying thank you. Always exuding gratitude. But your meetings with donors aren't just a massive thank-you tour. If that's your approach, it's going to be hard to get second meetings. Give your meetings a sense of purpose. As a donor I should feel like this conversation and this relationship is going somewhere.

How can your donors know if what you're telling them is actually true? How can they know if you are actually spending the money they give on the things you tell them the money is going towards? In this episode, Clark talks about how to become a trusted advisor to your donors, and when you are TRUSTED, they will believe what you say -- and they will ultimately determine whether or not what you're telling them is true based upon the RELATIONSHIP.

In this episode Clark interviews Monica about how she got started in fundraising -- raising money to go on a year-long mission with her church to Ireland. Clark sometimes tells big stories about million dollar gifts. Do the same principles apply to smaller gifts? Monica was asking for $100 gifts 20 years ago and she talks about the process -- and winning the hearts of her donors. The other big thing that grew out of Monica's first fundraising experience? She and Clark started dating, fell off a cliff together, and eventually got married!

People choose what's most familiar. Make it easy for your donors to choose you by becoming familiar to your donors. In this episode Clark recounts a story from his 2010 run for United States Congress, and how he lost to a name that was more familiar.

In this episode Clark talks about the short book, "A Spirituality of Fundraising" by the beloved author and theologian Henri Nouwen. Clark talks about why he hates the term "donors" and why he prefers to the term "partners" and the joy of being all wrapped up with others in a shared mission and vision.  For more information about anything Clark mentions in this episode you can email him at [email protected].

Getting started in estate planning does not have to be hard, or expensive. Just start talking to your donors about including your organization in their will. Clark goes through 5 easy steps to take that cost little or no money and talks about an experience on the road with an organization where that organization was talking about estate planning for the very first time. 

In this episode Clark shares insights from several hours of interviews with major donors asking them why they give. This is an important episode for fundraisers who struggle with the challenge of raising unrestricted funds -- and also for fundraisers who have an exciting project to sell as Clark has a word of caution from major donors about your exciting project. To get a free copy of the audio program that Clark references, "Major Donor Giving Secrets Revealed" just email Clark at [email protected].

In this episode Clark talks about the Mondays! Are you excited to go to work on Monday? Sure, there may be a tinge of sadness, but you ought to be excited to go to work to accomplish your goals and your mission. If you're not, maybe it's time for a gut check.

In this episode Clark talks about the importance of setting big goals and then breaking those down so that we see what we need to do month by month. He specifically talks about the number of meetings you should be having with your donors and prospective donors, and how to determine the right number of meetings you should have in a year. Set big goals! Your number should be big enough so that when you achieve it, you feel awesome. Quotes from Daniel Burnham and Machiavelli on setting big goals and making mistakes of ambition.

In this episode Clark talks about how to establish a calendar that ensures you are doing the basics of a professional development operation. The higher your "minimum acceptable" the better off you'll be. Don't  be intimidated by "big" organizations. You aren't competing against them. You're just trying to improve yourself and be better than you were last year.