Fundraising Leadership ™

Executive Coaching, Leadership Training, and Personal Development

Limiting Beliefs That Hinder Fundraising Success

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As an experienced fundraiser and leader you might not remember all the limiting beliefs that held you back at the start of your career.  Many of those beliefs are tied to the fears that surround asking such as: 1) “I  don’t know how to ask”,  2) “I’m too embarrassed to ask”, 3) “I don’t know who to ask”, 4) “I don’t have time to ask”, and 5) “If I ask, they will say no”.

While you may have faced some (or all) of these fears and limiting beliefs in the past and moved beyond them as your career as a fundraiser evolved, there may be some members of your staff who are not as advanced as you are, and who may be struggling.  This post is for them.  I encourage you to share it with them, as well as offer how you overcame these obstacles to success.

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Successful Fundraising in a Nutshell

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Do you have a project that needs funding to become a reality?  Does your nonprofit rely on private donations to fund its operations?  Is your organization like many small nonprofits that do not have a formal advancement/development plan nor assigned staff responsible for fundraising? [Read more…]

How to Come up with a Winning Pitch

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Regardless of whether you’re looking for a new job, you’re an entrepreneur seeking investors, you’re regularly employed at an organization, you’re self-employed, or you’re a fundraiser for charities, knowing how to be captivating is fundamental to achieving your goals.  How captivating and persuasive are you?

The WITA method will give you the clarity and focus you need for a captivating, winning pitch that will help you reach your dreams. Take a pen and paper and answer each of the questions below. Your answers will form the structure of your “pitch”.

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7 Tips to Dividing up Big Challenges into Smaller Parts

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This technique will help you overcome feelings of overwhelm to plan what you want while circumventing unforeseen obstacles.

If you’re the kind of person who feels overwhelmed when you start a big project, the “divide and prioritize” technique will serve you well. Dividing up big challenges into smaller parts and prioritizing those parts will enable you to determine the most important tasks to complete. Each step you take will be reason for celebration and continuing to pursue your main objective. [Read more…]

The 7 Keys For Unlocking Relationships with Donors

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What is the secret to being in a relationship and creating magic? How can you improve the way you show up in relationships, and the way you connect with others?

I boarded the bus and found a seat in the last row, next to two young people who were chatting away.  I sat there observing them… I was struck by their relationship. Looking at each other’s eyes, they listened to each other, sitting close together. Each one’s body posture shifted as if reflecting on the other, and their voices alternated in a kind of conversational dance. Watching them confirmed to me that there is an art to being in a relationship.

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The Art of Giving, to Receive

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What would it feel like if you gave to others? Imagine devoting a brief space of time each day to giving to others; being of service to them; sharing. With one important proviso: this is giving without expecting anything in return.

My day couldn’t have gotten off to a better start. A donor called me early in the morning and unexpectedly asked me out to lunch. Within moments, that magical call had me smiling from ear to ear, filling me with energy. Receiving is one of life’s great pleasures; of course we all like being on the receiving end. We like it that someone else thought of us, and made that clear with a warm and generous gesture. Nevertheless, not only does receiving depend on others; it also doesn’t last forever.

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10 Guidelines for Creating Corporate Sponsorship Packages

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Having a marketing packet to attract your corporate sponsors is essential in helping them support your event or cause. And yet, marketing collateral alone is not enough!  Sponsors need you to personally enroll them in the possibilities (and realities) that you and your organization are creating in the world.   Yes, they may want to be associated with your project.  More importantly, they want to be associated with you. That tandem is key.
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There are no magic formulas to make the ask

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Making the ask does not follow formulas or manuals. Every case and every situation is different, and as much as you want to have a guide with every step to give, you will not find it. There are no magic formulas.

However, this is the question that many fundraisers, sellers and freelancers ask me. What do I do if …? And the truth is that this is a question that I love. They tell me, and with good reason, that the answer does not please them so much. I always tell them it depends.
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4 Easy-to-Accomplish Resolutions

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sunset-joy-1361279-640x480 (1)We all dream, and it’s fun to dream big. What are your dreams? Write them down on a piece of paper and read them over as many times as you want, to really make them yours. We all set big goals for ourselves, to give more meaning to our lives. I wonder: do we actually achieve those big goals, or do we abandon them along the way? If you’re one of those people who leave their goals half-finished, or never even start them, I can imagine you feel frustrated, tired and fed up. What would it be like to celebrate each time you accomplished one of those easy-to-achieve resolutions? How would you feel? I suggest you put pen to paper and make a commitment to yourself to achieve the 4 easy-to-accomplish resolutions listed below:
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