GuideStar Blog

“Just ask Oprah!” The board member gleefully instructed the development director.Inside the development was fuming.What she wanted to say was, “Great, can you set up a meeting?”

The fundraising part of my brain was on fire after attending the AFP International Fundraising Conference in Baltimore last month.I’ve been a fundraiser for 20 years and as VP of Training I am constantly studying the subject.Naturally, a 3 day conference dedicated to fundraising is my idea of nirvana.It was a privilege to get to speak and I’m excited to share the highlights of what I learned:

I’m counting down the days to AFP ICON in Baltimore. It helps that they have a counter on their website. My colleague Kelley Stewart calls me a “conference junkie” and she’s right. I’m thrilled to get spend 3 days getting inspired by the brilliant thought leaders in our space. Jon Duschinsky and Tony Elischer’s jaw dropping multimedia sensation “The Philanthropy Kaleidoscope” at last year’s AFP was unforgettable. It raised my expectations for this year’s event which were quickly met with the star-studded keynote line up of Seth Godin, Whoopi Goldberg and Isabel Allende.

Do you have high capacity donors hiding in plain sight?Chances are you do and you may not know it.

The hardest thing to do in fundraising is think like a donor. Let’s face it; thinking like other people is just plain difficult. This may be why most marriages end in divorce. Or why teenagers feel so woefully misunderstood. Yet, getting this one thing right has the greatest power to unleash your donor’s generosity towards your cause.

You worked hard all year. Then came #GivingTuesday. Now it’s end of year fundraising. You’re ready to leave the office and go spend time with family and friends. But wait. There’s one simple thing you can do to put a bow on your hard work all year, especially your year end fundraising.

Most board members fail because the proper expectations weren’t set in their recruitment. On top of recruiting great talent your single greatest blueprint for board member success is setting clear expectations. A detailed robust board contract takes you across the finish line. If you need some help setting clear expectations in your board contract, try this free sample board contract.

It takes a lot of "no’s" to get to a "yes," but the truth about fundraising is that the hardest part isn’t the ask, is getting the visit to make the ask! To help you get that all important face to face visit I’ve outlined seven of the most common objections a prospect or donor might have to taking a meeting and how you can overcome them.