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Thank you Wally!
Although I’m proud of my own 16 years in fundraising I am fully aware that I’m just a rookie compared to some old-timers out there. This post is a short tribute to one of the Read more…
Best posts Q4 2016
The trouble with vanilla…
Over the years I’ve observed sparky, funny, passionate and clever people morph into vanilla shells of their former selves as they enter their office to get on with their professional job of being a fundraiser. Read more…
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Authentic Fundraising: The Clark Kent Approach
When I introduced the Authentic Fundraiser I talked about the need for a less traditional sales approach. In this post I’m going to dig a little deeper into how “professional” fundraising professionals should be? People Read more…
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The people who made relationship fundraising work
I’ve stayed out of the current relationship fundraising debate, a little unsure what to say that I haven’t said many times already in the past 20+ years. But I found myself wondering why hasn’t the Read more…
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When Fundraising Hurts: Vicarious Trauma, Burnout, and Compassion Fatigue
You mean there’s a name for this? Said by me, exactly one year ago. I’d just guest-lectured at Humber College on the topic of crisis communications in war zones and natural disasters. The professor, Ken Read more…
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Four simple (but difficult) questions …
… and one simple answer. The greatest fundraisers asked and answered only four questions, repeatedly, for a long time. These questions are: 1. How do we make our proposition even better? 2. How do we Read more…
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5 Tips to survive the insanely busy fundraising season
It’s the busiest time of the fundraising year. We’re leveraging the giving spirit of the holiday season and the tax benefits of the end of the calendar year, and we’ve got appeals and asks coming Read more…
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Interviewing for a job? Be prepared to answer these questions.
A lot happens in one year… In 2014, I posted an article on the Top 5 Questions fundraisers should be asking in a job interview. Not realizing, at the time, I would get to put Read more…
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Fundraiser – you can be the difference: 4 tips to get started on the right track
A friend of mine has spent three years working with refugees on the border of Turkey and Syria. Sometimes the challenges were overwhelming, 16 hour days for weeks on end, as the stream of people Read more…
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Can you learn from a Newbie?
Will my intern ever understand what I’m trying to say? The newbie has only ever volunteered before, don’t ask them. You’ve been doing this 6 months what would you know? In a couple of years Read more…
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How to nurture happy fundraisers
We have a unique profession, and one that very few of us plan to choose when we begin our careers. Many of us stumble on to a job as fundraisers, fall in love, and never Read more…
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Let’s start talking their language…
I haven’t always been a fundraiser, but having been in the sector for a while now. I have to admit, I love it. I love how much we share ideas and I love that even Read more…
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The Victories and Challenges of Small Shop Fundraising
I have worked for a few “small shops” in my career. Each organization had its own quirky, wonderful, and bizarre challenges and victories. I worked for a theatre in a building so old that the Read more…
