Giving is good — and other truths that can transform your fundraising

Here’s a whole bucket of wisdom from The Far Edge Of Promise: 21 Advancement Truths. Here are a few of them:

• Donors don’t give to institutions, they give through institutions.
  
• Doing the fundamentals consistently is “the silver bullet.”
  
• What your donors believe about your institution is far more important than what they know about your institution.
  
• In making your most effective case for support, keep in mind that too many numbers numb, but stories are stored.
  
• With only rare exceptions, special events represent the most inefficient and ineffective way to raise money.
  
• Your job is to strengthen the donor’s belief in the goodness of your institution’s mission.
  
• If a prospect tells you “no,” it is not a personal rejection.
  
• Engagement isn’t sending out the magazine.
  
• Strategic planning is the foundation of successful campaigns.
  
• 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.
  
• Giving is good.
  

Let me repeat that last one, because it’s probably the most important: Giving is good.

When you embrace that, your fundraising works a lot better!