Not Your Ordinary Fundraising Books

For fundraisers, the last year has been anything but ordinary. The constraints of a global pandemic on a profession that thrives on face-to-face communication have been manifold. Cancelled annual galas, donor meetings relocated to Zoom, and a heightened reliance on online giving have all made generating revenue more challenging at a time of unprecedented need.

Savvy fundraisers have risen to occasion, drawing on their ingenuity and flexibility to make the proverbial lemonade out of lemons. But as the fall giving season approaches, now might be a good time to take stock of current strategies and adopt even more creative approaches.

What follows is a list of unconventional books meant to guide fundraisers on their journey towards innovation.

The Donor’s Perspective

The first book on the list is exceptional in that it is told from the perspective of a high-level donor. Philanthropy Revolution: How to Inspire Donors, Build Relationships and Make a Difference, by Lisa Greer and Larissa Kostoff offers a birds-eye view of Greer’s overnight ascent into the 1%, and her less-than-pleasant experiences on the donor end of the fundraising equation. She shares frustrations about fundraisers insisting on her husband’s presence at meetings, despite her role as the family’s philanthropic decision-maker, and being pressured at an event to make an even bigger contribution mere months after a substantial initial donation. The author weaves together these first-hand accounts with research in the field of philanthropy to make the case that traditional fundraising approaches are not only outmoded, but also might be driving away a new generation of givers on whom nonprofits will soon depend.

Arguing that a more humane approach to donor cultivation is needed, Greer writes, “If organizations want to stay relevant, they’re going to have to realize that what’s personal in our relationships – it can’t be faked.” Her book then outlines strategies nonprofits can use to “be more upfront in their communications, more authentic in their relationships, and more transparent in their practices generally.” Chapters such as “Money Talks: Authentic Ways to Deal with the ‘Ask’” and “Donors and Their Motives: The Old Rules Don’t Apply” give fundraisers food for thought as they map out their strategy for the coming months.

Generating the Human Connection with Technology

Steven Shattuck’s Robots Make Bad Fundraisers: How Nonprofits Can Maintain the Heart in the Digital Age examines the intersection between technology and the fundraising field. Shattuck asks why, despite the vast array of technological tools available to the modern fundraiser, donor retention rates have remained steady for the past 20 years while the percentage of Americans giving to charity has actually declined. His answer echoes the sentiments of Greer. “The truth is,” he states, “that we’ve lost touch with what makes fundraisers the most successful: a personal connection with our supporters.” Shattuck argues that technology should not serve as a substitute for tried and true fundraising techniques, but rather a complement to them. He then lays out a plan for accomplishing this.

In his chapter, “Why Retention Eats Acquisition for Breakfast,” Shattuck argues that cultivating meaningful relationships with donors over time is much more cost effective than constantly seeking out new donors. Using this as a starting point, in the following chapters he delves into the research on what donors want and provides actionable techniques for harnessing technologies such as donor management software, email marketing, social media, and websites to personalize the donor experience.

The Science of the Ask

Another revolutionary new book is Making the Ask: The Artful Science of High-Value Fundraising, which takes a scientific approach to donor cultivation. Applying insights gleaned from fields such as psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral economics, authors Bernard Ross and Clare Segal aim to help fundraisers working with high net worth individuals to “make the ask,” specifically that often daunting first ask.

The authors identify five stages on the road to a successful ask: 1) passion; 2) proposal; 3) preparation; 4) persuasion; and 5) persistence. The book then takes readers through these five stages, arming them with a toolkit of 20 scientifically-proven techniques (four for each phase) to help them achieve fundraising success.

As an example, the first tool explored in the book is that of creating an emotional anchor. This tool is meant to help with stage one, passion, or more concretely, generating passion (or any other desired emotion) when a fundraiser’s tanks are running low. The technique, often used by professional athletes, involves programming one’s body to evoke the desired state of mind through some sort of stimulus. For example, your favorite baseball player may tap his bat on the ground before stepping up to the plate to evoke feelings of focus and confidence in his ability to hit a homer. The book explains step-by-step how fundraisers can create their own emotional anchors to help them prep for important meetings with high-level donors.

This is just the first of 20 tools outlined in the book, many of which are undoubtedly of value in situations that extend beyond the realm of fundraising, and all of which will help when making the big ask.

Getting a Jumpstart on the Future

Since the creation of Bitcoin in 2008, vast fortunes have been made in the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. This has translated to substantial philanthropic gifts of crypto assets, such as a recent $5 million gift of Bitcoin to the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business. However, many nonprofits, especially smaller ones, lack the capacity to receive such donations.

In the book Bitcoin and the Future of Fundraising: A Beginner’s Guide to Cryptocurrency Donations, authors Anne Connelly and Jason Shim write, “The wealth is there, but is your nonprofit ready to receive it?” Written with the complete crypto novice in mind, the book first goes over the basics, providing explanations for what cryptocurrency is, why it is important, how a blockchain works, and the process of buying and donating Bitcoin and other cryptoassets. This places the reader on solid ground before delving into more complex aspects of setting up cryptocurrency donations, such as achieving organizational buy-in, methods for receiving donations, tax and accounting issues, and keeping crypto funds safe. Most importantly, Connelly and Shim provide profiles of the different types of crypto donors and how to seek them out.

Throughout the book, the authors break down the concepts and lingo common to the crypto community, further helping fundraisers to understand and connect with this new type of donor. In addition, handy checklists ensure that those creating a cryptocurrency donations program haven’t overlooked any of the various steps involved.

The authors note that the speed at which these concepts are implemented may be a matter of organizational culture, namely how quickly new innovations are generally adopted. Given the inexorable march forward on the adoption curve for new innovations, they argue that “[it’s] not a matter of if you should move ahead, but a strategic decision of when and how you will incorporate cryptocurrencies.”

Honorable Mentions

Although these are not the only new fundraising books to come out recently, they should get readers started on the path to approaching their existing fundraising programs with an eye towards innovation. Other books that explore similar concepts include Brock Warner’s From the Ground Up: Digital Fundraising For Nonprofits and Paul D’Alessandro's The Future of Fundraising: How Philanthropy’s Future is Here with Donors Dictating the Terms. (If purchasing the latter, the paperback version is recommended, as the Kindle version may have some formatting issues.) For further reading inspiration, visit GrantStation’s PathFinder library.