From time to time, someone asks me, What do I need to know to effectively raise funds?
I generally stammer out something that I hope will be helpful -- something like Make it all about your donors or Don't forget to ask.
Of course, one-sentence advice won't take you very far.
But being asked the question is what got me started writing The Fundraiser's Guide to Irresistible Communications.
This book is exactly for you. If you read this blog, if you read any fundraising blogs at all, you are clearly someone who wants to do fundraising right. You want to work with knowledge, not hunch and superstition.
Based on decades of hand-on fundraising with dozens of great nonprofits, this book zeroes in on the hard stuff, the surprising, counterintuitive things that most often trip up fundraisers.
You won't find wild-eyed, speculative theories in this book. Just the solid, experiential practices. Nothing controversial -- unless you're in one of those marketing departments that makes it a practice of ignoring what works.
This is the book you can show that meddling, know-it-all executive director or board member who insists on taking all the life and effectiveness out of our fundraising. See? An actual printed book says it should be like this!
Here's what some excellent people who've read the book are saying:
Tom Ahern, author of How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money and Seeing Through a Donor's Eyes:
"An instant classic that will be read and reread obsessively by the fundraisers of this world."
Roger M. Craver, Editor of The Agitator and Founder, DonorTrends:
"This simple, smart, and fun-to-read book is for those aspiring to a black belt in fundraising. If you're in fundraising and this book isn't on your bookshelf, dog-eared, underlined, and well-worn, you've been shortchanging yourself and the organization you serve."
Katya Andresen, Network for Good and author of Robin Hood Marketing:
"A fundraiser's breakfast of champions -- bread-and-butter fundraising wisdom based on years of experience."
Stephen Hitchcock, Bread for the World and author of Open Immediately: Straight Talk on Direct Mail Fundraising:
"This brief book is packed with practical advice and research to back it up. It's a delight to read as well. Give this book to everyone in your organization -- and to your best board members."
Or at Amazon.co.uk
Or from the publisher (best bet if you're ordering lots of copies -- which, of course, you need to do!)
