Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 2 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Getting Started with Fundraising 5 Chapter 1: Fundraising Continuously During Economic Fluctuations 7 Looking Ahead and Planning for Revenue Ups and Downs 8 Creating a contingency plan for the continuation of services 9 Preparing your board and staff for organizational survival 10 Coping with staff reductions and shrinking budgets 11 Finding partner organizations and revenue sources 12 Making Revenue-Producing Changes 12 Whittling down your mission 12 Paring your services (or pairing up to provide them!) 13 Nurturing the donor-organization relationship 14 Turning to cost-effective processes 14 Touting Your Successes and Building Supportive Relationships 15 Telling your story well 15 Engaging people who care 16 Developing relationships with key businesses and funders 16 Doing Your Best to Bring In the Dollars 17 Preparing Now for When Things Start Looking Up 18 Laying the groundwork to take advantage of an economic recovery 18 Moving forward with hope 19 Chapter 2: Embracing Fundraising with a Passion 21 Sparking Fundraising Action 22 Remembering why you signed on 23 Helping your donors catch the spark 24 Talking the fundraising talk 24 Building on Passion in the Nonprofit World 26 Competing for dollars 28 Keeping your organization going 28 Maximizing Social Media Visibility 31 Chapter 3: All About Attitude: Fundraising Issues and Ethics 33 Inspiring or Selling: The Fundraising Debate Continues 34 Living with the stigma 34 Combining sales and ideals 35 Adhering to the Ethics of Fundraising 36 Finding organizations with ethical standards 37 Familiarizing yourself with the fundraiser''s credo 39 Breaking Down Fundraising Myths 40 Myth 1: It''s all about the money 40 Myth 2: You lie to get what you want 41 Myth 3: Your donor owes the world something 42 Chapter 4: Winning with Words: Your Case Statement 45 Stating Your Case 46 Understanding what the case statement is and how you use it 46 Getting started with your case statement 46 Making the Case Compelling 48 Developing a Case Statement: A Step-by-Step Guide 50 Step 1: The mission: Why are you here? 51 Step 2: The goals: What do you want to accomplish? 53 Step 3: The SMART objectives: How will you reach your goals? 54 Step 4: Programs: What exactly do you provide? 55 Step 5: Governance: What''s the anatomy of your board? 55 Step 6: Staff: Who are the people behind your services? 56 Step 7: Location: Where do you live and work? 57 Step 8: Finances: Is your organization financially responsible? 57 Step 9: Development: What will you do in the future? 58 Step 10: History: What successes are you building on? 58 Giving Life to an Outdated Case Statement 60 Sharing Your Case Statement 61 Formatting your case 61 Putting the case statement to work: From paper to online posts 62 Chapter 5: Organizing Your Cheerleaders: Board Members and Volunteers 63 Seeing the Big Picture: How Boards and Fundraising Fit Together 64 Understanding the board''s duties 64 Knowing how your role fits with the board''s work 65 Teaming with the Board to Advance Your Cause 67 Helping the board help you in fundraising 67 Balancing the attraction of high-profile board members 68 Guiding Your Board through Tough Decisions 70 Slating and prioritizing your issues 71 Knowing when to use reserved funds 72 Figuring out when to launch into unchartered waters 73 Helping your organization find clarity in challenging times 74 Recognizing the True Value of Volunteers 76 Seeking volunteers 76 Establishing a relationship of mutual respect 78 Training your volunteers as fundraisers 79 Making use of baby boomers: Retirees as volunteers 80 Chapter 6: Creating a Fundraising Plan 81 Drafting the Perfect Fundraising Plan 81 Starting with the case statement 82 Identifying your goals 83 Building a needs statement 84 Assessing your existing resources 84 Determining what you need 85 Setting your financial targets 86 Putting the all-powerful giving pyramid to work 87 Getting started with the right methods 88 Discovering fundraising markets 90 Avoiding Plan Busters Like the Plague 92 Budgeting Your Fundraising Efforts 93 Making sure you include everything in your budget but don''t overbudget 94 Figuring out the cost of raising money 96 Turning Elsewhere for Assistance 96 Knowing when to outsource 96 Using affordable and functional fundraising software 97 Part 2: Identifying Potential Donors and Rallying for Their Support 99 Chapter 7: Mining for Donors 101 Finding Your Stakeholders 101 Recognizing Your Bread and Butter: Individual Donors 103 Understanding donor levels 103 Identifying potential donors 104 Doing Business with Corporate Donors 104 Finding Foundations That Care 105 Asking Your Board All the Right Questions 105 Where did you forget to expand your donor base? 106 Whom did you forget to ask? 106 Checking Out Potential Donors 107 Pursuing promising prospects 108 Finding the silver lining with unlikely prospects 108 Researching the Internet Way 109 Keeping Track of Your Organization''s Donors and Their Contributions 110 Creating an effective donor information form 111 Keeping good donor records 112 Maintaining Confidence: The Issues and Ethics of Handling Personal Data 112 Chapter 8: Meeting Your Donor with Grace and Grit 115 Evaluating the Importance of a Visit 116 Preparing to Meet Potential Donors 116 Examining the Giving Relationship between the Donor and the Organization 118 Showing donors the value of their gifts 118 Getting more than money from your donors 119 Checking out what motivates giving consistency 120 Considering Your Donor''s Context 122 Engaging potential donors with limited means (for now) 122 Connecting with affluent donors 123 Meeting reluctant retirees on their level 123 Cultivating the Initial Donor-Organization Relationship 124 Chapter 9: Cultivating Major Givers 127 Seeking a Major Gift Today for Tomorrow 127 Finding the Holy Grail of Fundraising: The Major Gift 129 Planning your way to major gifts 129 Cultivating new and existing donors who have a lot to give 131 Recognizing Major Donors for Their Contributions 136 Meeting your donors'' expectations 136 Providing donor recognition 137 Chapter 10: Making the Major Gift Ask 139 Pushing through the Fear by Focusing on the Greater Goal 140 Accepting that you have to talk about money 140 Understanding that no doesn''t equal failure 141 Remembering that you''re a donor, too 142 Checking Out Your Attitudes about Money 143 True or false: Money is an exchange mechanism 143 True or false: Money is the root of all evil 143 True or false: Money can''t buy happiness 144 True or false: Money talks 144 Choosing the Right People to Make the Ask 145 Teaming up for dollars 146 Flying solo 147 Developing the Mechanics of Asking 147 Recognizing the equitable exchange 147 Using the tools of the trade 148 Knowing the donor 149 Checking out each step of "the Ask" 149 Moving Beyond No 151 Rating Your Yes-Ability 152 Following Up after "the Ask" 153 Chapter 11: Writing Winning Grant Proposals to Reach Your Fundraising Goal 155 Getting a Grip on Grants 156 Identifying Different Grant Givers 157 Choosing the Right Project to Be Funded 157 Starting from the ground up: Seed money 158 Expanding your reach: Program funds 158 Building for the future: Capital campaigns 159 Laying the Groundwork for Grant Seeking 159 Turning to your board for support 160 Developing a grant proposal writing strategy 160 Finding the Right Funder 161 Starting your search for funders 161 Using local sources first 162 Working your way away from home 163 Digging deeper to find the right grantor 164 Inquiring about Letters of Inquiry and Grant Guidelines 165 Getting Down to Business: Writing the Proposal 166 Creating a comprehensive cover letter 167 Providing an overview with the executive summary 167 Introducing your idea 168 Sharing your organization''s history 168 Stating your program''s needs 169 Outlining program goals, objectives, and evaluations 169 Detailing the program budget and budget narrative 170 Explaining your leadership, staffing, and location 170 Including the necessary extras 171 Following Up on Your Proposal 171 Putting a Positive Spin on No 172 Seeing Your Grant as a Relationship 173 Part 3: Sharing the Organization''s Story and Building Its Brand 175 Chapter 12: Connecting for Potential Donor Awareness: Sharing Your Story 177 Thinking through Your Communications Strategy 178 Evaluating your communications cos.