What do baby shoes have to do with fundraising? Well, Joe Friday would make a terrible fundraiser. Joe wanted “just the facts, ma’am.” (For those of you who didn’t grow up watching Dragnet, here’s a taste.) That’s not to say fundraising communications should not be true. It’s just that there’s so much more to it […]
Where are all my stories hiding?
Where do you find the stories you need? So you’re (more) convinced that stories are the way to win over hearts. But now comes the big challenge. Where do I find our stories? I understand. It’s hard! We’ve all been carefully trained to judge our work using metrics. (And you must do that!) But what […]
Fundraisers: use stories, not statistics
The human mind is a wanderer by nature. The daydream is the mind’s default state. Jonathan Gottschall What do you like to read? I read a scary book recently. Dystopic, feminist, infuriating. And compelling. (Gather the Daughters, by Jennie Melamed) But it did what I look to fiction to do. It took me away, to […]
Create a photobank this year
If you don’t already have one, put creating a photobank on your to-do list. Though it should pain me – a writer – to say this, it’s true: one great photo says more than words can. An image communicates much faster – long before words make their way to our brains. More of us are […]
Please share a moment of humanity with me
Do you ever feel cynical about fundraising or even humanity? It’s a hazard of our age, I guess. I hope it’s not one of our profession, though. You’ve heard that storytelling is key to good fundraising. And you’ve heard that focusing on our donors and showing them need and appreciation are critical. You’ve heard that […]