Think you can figure out fundraising? Maybe not. A lot of it doesn't really make sense. If you use your common sense, you'll often run into trouble. As the Masterworks blog notes, It just makes NO SENSE!
Here are the three fundraising thoughts that seem to make sense:
- Don't ask first-time donors for a second gift too soon.
- You alienate donors if you call them to ask for a gift.
- Those hokey direct mail techniques just don't work anymore.
They all sound good. But they aren't. If you ignore donors for a long time after their first gift, your chance of ever getting another gift drops. While some people really hate getting phone calls, it is a very effective fundraising and relationship-building tool. And those hokey techniques. Many of them are pure gold.
Sense doesn't get you there. Knowledge is what you need.
Jeff Brooks has been serving the nonprofit community for more than 30 years and blogging about it since 2005. He considers fundraising the most noble of pursuits and hopes you'll join him in that opinion. You can reach him at jeff [at] jeff-brooks [dot] com. 
