Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Conventions Used in This Book 2 What You''re Not to Read 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 How This Book Is Organized 3 Icons Used in This Book 5 Where to Go from Here 6 Part I: Putting Your Fundraising Ducks in a Row 7 Chapter 1: Fundraising in a Changing Economy 9 Looking at the Stark Realities 10 Identifying cutbacks and understanding the reasons for them 12 Coping with staff reductions and shrinking budgets 12 Dealing with hard times that linger 13 Finding reliable sources 14 Finding Your Opportunity: A Crisis Is Too Good to Waste 14 Revisiting your mission 14 Paring your services (or pairing up to provide them!) 15 Nurturing the donor-agency relationship 15 Turning to cost-effective processes 16 Talking Up Your Successes and Building Relationships 16 Telling your story well 17 Engaging people who care 17 Developing relationships with key businesses and funders 18 Doing Your Best to Bring In the Dollars 18 Preparing Now for When Things Start Looking Up 19 Laying the groundwork to take advantage of an economic recovery 20 Moving forward with hope 21 Chapter 2: Identifying the Fruits of Your Fundraising Passion 23 Sparking Fundraising Action 24 Remembering why you signed on 24 Helping your donor catch the spark 25 Talking the fundraising talk 27 Building on Passion in the Nonprofit World 29 Competing for dollars 29 Keeping your organization going 30 Demonstrating Your Connection with Social Media 32 Chapter 3: Finding the Right Perspective: Fundraising Issues and Ethics 35 Inspiring or Selling: The Fundraising Debate Continues 35 Living with the stigma 36 Combining sales and ideals 38 Understanding the Ethics of Fundraising 38 Finding ethical standards organizations 39 Familiarizing yourself with the fundraiser''s credo 42 Debunking Fundraising Myths 43 Myth 1: It''s all about the money 43 Myth 2: You lie to get what you want 44 Myth 3: Your donor owes the world something 45 Myth 4: Wining and dining donors is all you do 46 Chapter 4: Writing Your Case Statement: Your Agency''s Reason to Be 47 Stating Your Case 48 Understanding what the case statement is and how you use it 48 Getting started with your case statement 48 Making the Case Compelling 50 A Step-by-Step Guide to Writing the Case Statement 52 Step 1: The mission: Why are you here? 52 Step 2: The goals: What do you want to accomplish? 55 Step 3: The objectives: How will you reach your goals? 55 Step 4: Programs: What exactly do you provide? 57 Step 5: Governance: What''s the anatomy of your board? 57 Step 6: Staff: Who are the people behind your services? 58 Step 7: Location: Where do you live and work? 58 Step 8: Finances: Is your organization financially responsible? 59 Step 9: Development: What will you do in the future? 60 Step 10: History: What successes are you building on? 61 Overhauling an Outdated Case Statement 62 Sharing Your Case Statement 63 Formatting your case 63 From paper to online posts: Putting the case statement to work 64 Chapter 5: Organizing Your Team: Board Members and Volunteers 65 Seeing the Big Picture: How Boards and Fundraising Fit Together 66 Understanding the board''s duties 66 Knowing how your role fits with the board''s work 67 Enlisting the Board to Help Advance Your Cause 68 Helping the board help you in fundraising 69 Balancing the attraction of high-profile board members 70 Walking your Board through Tough Decisions 71 Slating and prioritizing your issues 72 Knowing when to use reserved funds 73 Figuring out when to launch into unchartered waters 74 Helping your organization find clarity in challenging times 75 Discovering the True Value of Volunteers 76 Seeking volunteers 77 Establishing a productive relationship 78 Using your volunteers as fundraisers 79 Making use of baby boomers: Retirees as volunteers 80 Chapter 6: Creating a Winning Fundraising Plan 83 Drafting the Perfect Plan 83 Starting with the case statement 84 Identifying your goals 84 Building a needs statement 85 Assessing your existing resources 86 Determining what you need 87 Setting your financial targets 87 Putting the all-powerful giving pyramid to work 88 Getting started with the right methods 90 Discovering fundraising markets 91 Avoiding Plan Busters like the Plague 93 Budgeting Your Fundraising Efforts 94 Making sure you include everything in your budget but don''t overbudget 96 Figuring out the cost of raising money 97 Turning Elsewhere for Assistance 97 Knowing when to outsource 98 Using fundraising software 99 Part II: Finding -- and Winning Over -- Donors 101 Chapter 7: Getting the Lowdown on Your Donors 103 Finding Your Stakeholders 103 Recognizing Your Bread and Butter: Individual Donors 105 Understanding donor levels 105 Identifying possible donors 106 Doing Business with Corporate Donors 107 Finding Foundations That Care 107 Asking Your Board All the Right Questions 108 Where did you forget to expand your donor base? 108 Whom did you forget to ask? 109 Checking Out Potential Donors 111 Pursuing promising prospects 111 Finding the silver lining with unlikely prospects 111 Researching the Internet Way 112 Keeping Track of Your Donors and Their Contributions 113 Creating an effective donor information form 114 Keeping good donor records 115 Maintaining Confidence: The Issues and Ethics of Handling Personal Data 115 Chapter 8: Meeting Your Donor 117 Evaluating the Importance of a Visit 117 Preparing to Meet Potential Donors 118 Examining the Giving Relationship between the Donor and the Agency 119 Showing donors the value of their gifts 120 Getting more than money from your donors 121 Checking out what motivates giving 122 Considering Your Donor''s Context 124 Engaging donors with limited means (for now) 125 Connecting with affluent donors 126 Meeting reluctant retirees on their level 126 Cultivating the Initial Relationship 127 Chapter 9: Cultivating Major Givers 129 Seeking a Major Gift Today for Tomorrow 129 Finding the Holy Grail of Fundraising -- The Major Gift 131 Planning your way to major gifts 131 Cultivating donors who have a lot to give 133 Recognizing Major Donors for Their Contributions 137 Meeting your donors'' expectations 138 Providing donor recognition 140 Chapter 10: Asking for a Major Gift 141 Pushing through the Fear by Focusing on the Greater Goal 141 Accepting that you have to talk about money 142 Understanding that no doesn''t equal failure 143 Remembering that you''re a donor, too 144 Checking Out Your Attitudes about Money 144 True or False: Money is an exchange mechanism 145 True or False: Money is the root of all evil 145 True or False: Money can''t buy happiness 145 True or False: Money talks 146 Figuring Out Who Should Ask for Money 147 Teaming up for dollars 148 Flying solo 149 Developing the Mechanics of Asking 149 Recognizing the equitable exchange 150 Using the tools of the trade 150 Knowing the donor 151 Checking out each step of "the Ask" 152 Moving Beyond No 153 Rating Your Yes-Ability 155 Following Up after "the Ask" 156 Chapter 11: Writing Winning Grant Proposals 157 Getting a Grip on Grants 158 Identifying Different Grant Givers 158 Choosing the Right Project to Get Funded 159 Starting from the ground up: Seed money 159 Expanding your reach: Program funds 160 Building for the future: Capital campaigns 161 Laying the Groundwork for Grant Seeking 161 Turning to your board for support 162 Developing a grant proposal writing strategy 162 Looking at the grant process, step by step 163 Finding the Right Funder 164 Starting your search for funders 164 Zeroing in on your fundraising category 165 Using local sources first 166 Working your way away from home 166 Digging deeper to find the right grantor 167 Inquiring about Letters of Inquiry and Grant Guidelines 168 Getting Down to Business: Writing the Proposal 169 Creating a comprehensive cover letter 170 Providing an overview with the executive summary 171 Introducing your idea 171 Stating your program''s needs 172 Outlining program goals, objectives, and evaluations 172 Detailing the program budget and budget narrative 173 Explaining your leadership, staffing, and location 173 Sharing your organization''s history 174 Including the necessary extras 174 Following Up on Your Proposal 174 Putting a Positive Spin on No 175 Seeing Your Grant as a Relationship 176 Part III: Telling Your Story and Building Your Brand 177 Chapter 12: Connecting for Profits: Sharing Your Story by Print, Mail, and Phone 179 Thinking through Your Communications Strategy 180 Evaluating your commu.