Smart ideas from Hartsook Companies, Inc.

May 18, 2010

Courage for Your Clients

"An attitude of abundance." It's more than a slogan or nice admonition for nonprofit organizations. It is an essential organizational value. During the Great Recession many nonprofits decreased their fundraising activities and some walked away from their fundraising programs all together. This lack of courage for the people they serve - or served - caused many nonprofits to experience significant setbacks right at the time their clients were experiencing even greater need.

This "attitude of abundance" is irrelevant if it is not matched by the organization's commitment to "stand and make an argument" for its clients. Either your clients are worthy of support or they are not. Leaders of organizations that stand and make a powerful and passionate case for their clients have weathered the Great Recession better than those who have acquiesced and made excuses for why they are not raising money.

For me this dynamic will take on an interesting dimension later this summer when Giving USA and others issue their reports of 2009 giving in America. If giving goes down from 2008 levels, many fundraisers and nonprofit executives - and even volunteer leaders - will use the information to validate their lack of fundraising success. What will be missed is the singular nonprofits who maintained or even increased their charitable giving because they had an attitude of abundance and the courage to help their clients.

Fighting for those you serve is a noble effort. Be professional. Be gracious. Be thoughtful. But do not stop asking for gifts to help those you serve.

- Robert G. Swanson, Vice Chairman (Wichita, Kan.)

The Written Word

Can you take control over your own success? According to Hartsook Companies' COO Matt Beem, who debuts his first solo book, Performance-Driven Fundraising: Taking Control of Your Success, you can. This insightful text, built on his years of fundraising for a variety of organizations, will accelerate anyone's learning curve and serve as a handy, yet entertaining, reference tool for new and seasoned fundraisers. To order your copy at the introductory price of just $19.95, click here. This special offer expires June 15, 2010, so don't delay. Coming soon to Kindle.

Adrian Sargeant, the Robert F. Hartsook Professor of Fundraising at Indiana University, and Jen Shang just released Fundraising Practices and Principles published by Jossey-Bass Wiley. One reviewer notes: "Sargeant is the accessible academic and this is typical of his work. It is rigorously researched, clear, concise, well written, well presented and entirely appropriate. Any fundraiser who knows what Adrian knows will outperform the others. It's as simple as that." Hartsook leaders Karin Cox (special events), Matt Beem (planned giving) and Bob Hartsook (major gift fundraising) all served as contributors. The book is available at http://www.josseybass.com/WileyCDA/.

On the Web

• Bob's Blog. In this intriguing post, which is generating a lot of interest, Bob discusses "the year that it was embarrassing to be successful" and sheds new light on million-dollar gifts and the mystery of "silent giving." Click here to read.

• Examine This... As the Giving USA Foundation prepares to release their 2010 report, Matt Beem shares funders' optimism on the recovering economy in this most recent article for the Examiner. For the latest, visit our web site.

• Timely Tips and Tweets! Follow us on Twitter at HartsookTips. Today's Tweet: Successful solicitations only look like magic. In fact, they are the product of thoughtful planning and preparation. The more magical it appears, the more thorough the preparation.

• Facebook: Become a Fan. Get enlightening fundraising tips, view our event photos, and see what's new at Hartsook Companies by following us on Facebook.

• Searches Made Simple. We recently added Google Search as an easy way for site visitors to find relevant resources and information on our web site.

• Global Reach. Empresas Hartsook, Inc. es una empresa de recaudación de fondos completo servicio de consultoría. Or as we say in our native language: "Hartsook Companies, Inc. is a full-service fundraising consulting firm." To better accommodate international clients and prospects, Hartsook Companies' web site can now be translated into 40 languages via the Google Translate button on our home page.

Another Smart Idea...From the Hartsook Best Practices Collection^SM

"Make the most of the one-on-one personal interviews [that occur] in the planning and feasibility study phase of your campaign with good follow up to convert them to donors." - Jennifer Curzon, Hartsook Companies (Kansas City)

If you are interested in Best Practices and smart ideas, see these additional resources from Hartsook Companies:

• The entire ASR Publishing collection is now available on Kindle. Books from Hartsook Companies' CEO Bob Hartsook include On The Money! - an enlightening collection of success stories and lessons learned from nonprofit fundraising campaigns nationwide; Closing that Gift! How to be Successful 99% of the Time - a reveal of the 29 secrets to closing a gift and the top 10 solicitation mistakes; Million Dollar Gifts - 101 strategies of amazing real-life stories of million-dollar gifts made by average Americans; Nobody Wants to Give Money Away! - stories, humor and more than two decades of fundraising experience in which Bob explores the nine fundraising truths essential to success; Getting Your Ducks in a Row - a tool box of strategies for effective campaign fundraising, including ideas, concepts, plans, strategies, approaches and suggestions that result in success; and "Reality Fundraising" - ideas, insights and lessons learned through hundreds of best practices from nonprofit professionals nationwide.

• "Best Practices Coast to Coast," a compilation of best practices from every state in the union.

• "Hartsook Best Practices Collection," our original collection of 250 best practices and great ideas.

For a free copy of "Best Practices Coast to Coast" or the "Hartsook Best Practices Collection", please email Tammy Weinman, tammy@hartsookcompanies.com, or visit our web site. We also invite you to contribute your own best practice by emailing Annette Lough, annette@hartsookcompanies.com.

Visit the Hartsook Companies web site for:

• Educational opportunities
• Books/reference articles
• Conference/workshop speakers

Strategies for Success explores smart ideas, connecting with more than 2,000 fundraising professionals bi-weekly. We welcome your contributions or comments. Send to Strategies for Success editor Annette Lough, annette@hartsookcompanies.com. If you'd like a free subscription to Strategies for Success - or its monthly companion, eHartsook on Philanthropy - contact Tammy Weinman, tammy@hartsookcompanies.com. You also can reach her at 816.298.8045, Ext. 8225.

Our web site is located at http://www.hartsookcompanies.com.