The Fundraising Coach

Have you ever sat through a board retreat and thought, “What a waste of time!” You’re squished in a windowless room, squirming in a chair that feels like granite, and longing for the next break. Worse yet, the facilitator is boring, the content is useless, board members are texting, and the food is stale!

If you’re in the process of planning a retreat, don’t settle! It’s possible to put together an amazing day that’s engaging, meaningful, memorable, and fun. All it takes is a little planning and ingenuity.

Listen in to the following checklist to make sure you have all the essential elements in place to ensure the retreat is a resounding success.

In the world of nonprofit fundraising, meeting with a donor for coffee (or any in-person meeting), whether they are a potential supporter or a current contributor, is one of the most crucial interactions you’ll have.

This isn’t just a casual coffee chat; it’s a pivotal meeting that can define a donor’s impression of you, your organization, and may determine whether they make moderate gift, a significant one, or none at all. The stakes are high and coming prepared can greatly increase the likelihood you’ll leave with a smile and the outcome you desired.

To learn more about how to raise money in face-to-face settings, listen in!

In today's rapidly changing world, clinging to the traditional five-year strategic plan is not just outdated—it's impractical. Organizations need to adapt quickly to survive, and a long-term plan often becomes a liability and burden rather than a guide and roadmap. Instead, a one-year strategic plan, monitored monthly and updated annually, proves to be a far more effective and cost-efficient approach to planning.

To learn more, listen in!

The nonprofit world is a quirky one. Many nonprofits are founded by passionate people with little or no nonprofit experience. Many board members have little or no nonprofit experi­ence, and many staff members have little or no nonprofit or business experience.

The result is often a lot of wasted time and effort. Mistakes are made, resources are poorly allocated, and problems are ignored. People get involved and things get done, but no one is sure what should be done, how it should be done, or who should be responsible to do what.

A nonprofit can avoid many of these common pitfalls by building a "value network.” A value network is nothing more than a network of people, organizations, and resources that can help a non­profit run more efficiently and effectively—and build capacity—by providing information, knowledge, skills, experience, influence, and money.

This podcast will help your board and team build its value network and increase the organization's impact along the way.

Here's a list of 7 uncommon factors to look for!

Strategic planning is the backbone of any successful nonprofit organization, providing a roadmap for future growth and impact. However, navigating the strategic planning process can be challenging, requiring skilled guidance to ensure clarity, collaboration, and actionable outcomes.

When seeking to hire the best strategic planning facilitator for your nonprofit, there are several key factors to consider. Here are seven essential (but uncommon) considerations for CEOs and Board Chairs to keep in mind when searching “Near Me” for the best facilitator to lead their strategic planning sessions.

Let’s be honest

Do you have board members that . . . Blow off meetings? Don’t read meeting materials? Don’t make a personal donation? Are nowhere to be found to help organize events? Can’t recite the mission or vision? Don’t help steward donors? Rarely see your programming? Don’t personally know the staff? Say they’re “just volunteers” or “too busy” to participate? Couldn’t share any institutional knowledge to save their life? Believe that the ED and staff are getting paid so they should do all the work?

Well, if we had the courage, here’s what we’d like to say to the slackers on our boards:

“Your absence and lack of involvement are completely unacceptable and are a liability and disgrace to this board. If you cannot commit to full participation immediately, you need to resign."

"The board’s effectiveness is compromised by inactive members. Your inaction speaks louder than words. Either step up and fulfill your obligations or step aside so we can bring in members who will actively support our mission.”

Hosting a strategic planning session can be costly and time-consuming. You can spend hours and hours trying to find a suitable venue, hire caterers, organize pre-work, and wrangle all the attendees. But often times, the biggest cost is the one you spend on hiring the facilitator.

Then, the big day arrives. Everyone is prepared and excited to roll up their sleeves, grapple with pressing issues, and create a roadmap for the future. They have high expectations the day will be a huge success and that the facilitator will be outstanding.

But when the day turns out to be a huge belly flop because the facilitator was a huge dud that wasted everyone’s time and the organization’s money, it can make the organization be wary of ever hiring another facilitator.

Therefore, when hiring a strategic planning facilitator, it's crucial to be cautious and thorough to avoid falling victim to ineffective facilitators who overpromise and underdeliver. Listen in to these ten things to look out for the next time you’re scouting for a facilitator:

Next Level Donor Relations – Make Their Experience “Unexpectedly Pleasurable!” 

In today’s fundraising world, with dozens of nonprofits competing for donors’ hearts and wallets, it’s important to stand out and differentiate. Otherwise, no matter how noble your mission, you’ll be left with your hand out as other fundraisers hit their goals.

To inspire donor generosity and loyalty year after year, you must stop sending stale thank-you letters and having hollow donor experiences, and start thinking of creative ways to go above and beyond to provide donor service and experiences that are “unexpectedly” pleasurable and memorable.

Listen in to hear 16 uncommon and practical donor relations tactics that will delight and surprise your donors.

Are You a One-Percenter? Here’s a List of Dos and Don’ts of Top Performers. How do you rate?

There is a reason why the top performers – the One-Percenters – consistently do so well in business and life . . . it’s because they do the things, big and small, that set themselves apart from others.

There is nothing wrong with “average.” Average is good. It’s acceptable. Do you feel you’re an average worker? Are you better than average? How much better?

Would you like to be a One-Percenter? Do you want to be the type of person who gets frequent promotions and big raises? Do you dream of starting and running your own business or nonprofit? Do you want to be liked and respected by people around you, yet viewed as humble, gracious, and generous?

If you want to be a One-Percenter, or have the desire to improve your performance in the workplace, then commit yourself to learning and applying the following principles. If you do, you’ll find yourself in an elite group of leaders who make a difference.

Listen in to hear a list of 17 Dos and 10 Don’ts that define One-Percenters. 

Movies and Sound

Imagine watching a movie like Star Wars, Jaws, or Top Gun with no sound. They would be dry, listless, and yes, dull. In many movies, the sound makes the movie. It elicits emotional responses that can lift us up, make us cry, and give us goosebumps. Some music scores are so meaningful to us, they stir up emotions and memories decades after watching the movies. Think of movies like “The Sound of Music,” “Titanic,” and “The Good, Bad, and the Ugly.”

As a fundraiser, I recently came to heightened realization just how important sound is in our efforts to raise money. When reading a brochure or an appeal letter, there is no sound; it’s like watching a silent movie. The emotional power of the stories and information is weak. Yes, writing powerful and compelling stories can emotionally inspire donors, but not as well as telling those stories out loud.

Give Me Goosebumps

Telling stories and sharing information out loud—in person—brings stories alive. Imagine reading a scene from Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, or the shower scene in Hitchcock’s Psycho versus watching those scenes with sound. Reading the scenes may elicit an emotional response, but watching these movie scenes and hearing the sound effects, music scores, and people’s voices can transport our thoughts and emotions to unimaginable places.

The sounds in movies ignite all areas of our brains. The tone of a Darth Vader’s voice or the whizzing of Starfighter causes our brains to start pumping out dopamine, adrenaline, and a host of other chemical reactions that move us, compel us, and emotionally connect us. The same happens when we watch powerful videos with sound.

This is why it’s important to tell your stories colorfully when talking with donors and giving talks about your organization and the work you do. To do this, we need to use descriptive words that paint vivid pictures, tell touching stories, and vary your tone, pitch, and cadence of your speech.

Tune in to learn more