How does our relationship with money relate to, inform, serve, or compromise our mission? Can we ever have “enough” money? Is talking about money something that can help us to raise more?

Examining our attitudes toward money: earning it, spending it, and giving it away — can offer surprising insight into our lives and our values.

This FREE Fundraising Masters session with Lori Jacobwith on June 14th at 1:00PM ET is intended to inspire a paradigm shift for your money conversations both personally and for your nonprofit organization.

Jargon works when you are speaking with others who consistently work in your field. If you are a social worker and are talking to another social worker about trauma informed parenting, you are both speaking in a language you understand.

It makes sense and because you are both speaking fluently in your own language, it strikes a chord and elicits the appropriate emotions.

But, if you are not speaking to another social worker, but instead speaking to someone who really wants to understand your work, you are not going to get there by using industry jargon. Learn more in the latest post from Asking Matters' resident story expert, Sue Kindred!

We had a fantastic webinar in April on building stronger communities for our causes online, hosted by Dana Ostomel. In case you missed this session, you can watch the recording online!

In this recording, Dana discusses one of the biggest challenges facing organizations – changing the culture of giving and engagement.

Often we get so caught up in ‘the ask’ that we forget what motivates people to support us in the first place: relationships. Watch the free recording to discover the secret sauce of cultivating a community primed and ready to support you!

Choosing prospects is critically important. Of course it’s a no-brainer that if you don’t have the right prospects, you’re not going to raise the funds you need to fulfill your organization’s mission.

Yet sometimes, if you’re like most of us, you head out to ask without thinking it through enough. So what does it take to select the right prospects for you? Watch this free video to find out!

I was honored to present in San Diego last week at NAYDO – the North American YMCA Development Conference. It's the largest Y conference in the country – over 1800 attendees! – and I was engaged for two sessions.

The first was Efficient Major Gift Fundraising for Small YMCA's. Of the hundred people in the room 75% were executive directors – meaning they're doing most of the heavy lifting on major gifts. I shared a number of the techniques I use to make sure I'm focused on the most important gifts. One great rule of thumb is the Pareto Principle. Since in general you can expect 80% of your gifts to come from 20% of your donors, you should be spending 80% of your time on that 20%.

That same afternoon I led a 3-hour program for YMCA board members from across the continent. This was a new initiative of NAYDO. Over 100 board members joined me to learn about best practices in "giving and getting," and to learn about the Asking Styles and how to use them to fundraise comfortably and effectively. As most of you know, I'm determined to move boards away from transactional fundraising – special events, letter writing and quid pro quo asking – and get them focused on relational fundraising – helping to cultivate donors and solicit major gifts. Board members were excited to hear this approach.

Hope you're having a great year of fundraising,

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