The Elusive Silver Bullet

Like all Buzzfeed junkies, I love lists (and personality quizzes)!

Jason McNeal of Jason’s Blog has put together a list of 21 Advancement Truths—you know the immutable laws of good fundraising.  Below are my top ten, but you can check out Jason’s full list here.

  1. Giving is good.
  2. Doing the fundamentals consistently is “the silver bullet.”
  3. The success of your ask was determined during the cultivation.
  4. Donors don’t give to institutions, they give through institutions.
  5. And they give through institutions to people they trust.
  6. You have a case for support only when you can concisely answer the question, “why should anyone care?”
  7. In making your most effective case for support, keep in mind that too many numbers numb, but stories are stored.
  8. It’s not about you #1: Your job  is not to strengthen your relationship with the donor.  Your job is to strengthen the donor’s belief in the goodness of your institution’s mission.
  9. Engagement isn’t sending out the magazine. True engagement is the process of asking meaningful questions and actively listening to the responses.
  10. How you treat donors after they make a commitment says far more about how you value them as people than how you treated them before they committed.

Find the full list at Jason’s Blog.