Professional fundraisers and nonprofit leaders seeking help on how to raise funds
effectively for their organizations will find no shortage of advice. A multitude of books,
journals, newsletters, and other publications, as well as workshops, exist to instruct on
everything from launching special campaigns to the art of writing winning proposals.
Entire books are available on such topics as major gift cultivation and special event
fundraising. All of this "intelligence" is useful for the fundraising
profession and for nonprofits. Fundraising for nonprofits is a fast-growing field and,
generally, individuals who demonstrate success in fundraising are highly marketable.
However, the authors of this book recognize that many individuals in the nonprofit
community do not know where to begin seeking help, are overwhelmed by the plethora and
cost of resource materials, and are often intimidated by the tasks associated with raising
money. We also recognize that many individuals raising funds for nonprofits are serving
their organization in other roles, often as executive directors or board members. We
therefore sought to make this book concise, readable, and relevant.
Our many years of experience in fundraising have taught us that two important
principles should guide our efforts. First, we believe that fundraising is a process
that has at its core donor relationships that are nurtured over a long time. Second,
multifaceted fundraising strategies are required to ensure your nonprofit long-term
prosperity and fiscal stability.
The fundraising process is dynamic and people-driven. You will not find in this book a
formula or step-by-step manual. Rather, we offer you something analogous to an old family
recipe. Family members over the years may alter slightly or personalize the recipe to
reflect individual tastes, but the basic ingredients remain unchanged. In fundraising, you
must be creative in personalizing your approaches to donors, but at the same time, you
must keep in mind some time tested truths. Many of these "truths" or strategies
are discussed in this book. Most are connected in some way to the successful cultivation
of a donor relationship. Others relate to the importance of maintaining diverse
fundraising activities that (1) include both annual fund and major gift work; (2)
encourage the cultivation of individual, foundation, and corporate donors; and (3) support
the premise that building a strong foundation takes time, resources, and good planning.
We include a comprehensive chapter in this book about prospect research, an important
area in fundraising that is often overlooked in the literature. It is our belief that good
research is an essential component of all successful fundraising programs. With the
availability of new information technologies, prospect research is an area of rapid change
and growth.
We also include a chapter on planned giving. Nonprofits have much to gain by exploring
ways to secure planned gifts. We believe that even the novice fundraiser or nonprofit
executive will find the information and tips in this chapter to be understandable and
useful.
Finally, we explore cause-related marketing as a method to raise funds. Still in its
infancy, cause-related marketing, as part of a multifaceted fundraising program, promises
to be a viable and profitable way for many nonprofits to succeed in raising dollars.
We sincerely hope that this book will be a useful resource for those of you already
raising money for important causes, and for those of you just getting started. We know
that fundraising is tough work. We also know that success in fundraising has enormous
rewards. Nothing can compare with the exhilarating joy and magic that happen when you help
someone realize a dream, memorialize or honor a loved one, or make a heartfelt
contribution. We wish you many of those times.
R.L.E., E.A.S.B., J.A.E., and J.A.Y.
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