Charitable Giving Information

How to Write Successful Fundraising Letters (w/CD) (The Jossey-Bass Nonprofit Guidebook Series)

According to this practical handbook, a “fundraising letter is like a personal visit.” Writing from extensive experience in guiding companies and organizations through fund-raising efforts, Warwick offers detailed advice and analysis along with copious examples and instructive case studies. Warwick, who is both personal and hard-hitting, suggesting a cross between a preacher and a salesman, views fund-raising by mail as a three-stage process. “First, donors are acquired….Then, they are converted into repeat donors…finally donors may be upgraded into higher levels of generosity and commitment.” The well-organized instructions include the planning of whole campaigns, the phrasing of appeals, composition and punctuation, information packets, and follow-up. In a time when fund-raising is perquisite to nearly all professions and organizations, library managers of all types as well as library users should find this both fascinating and worthwhile.
Margaret Bush, Simmons Coll., Boston

Warwick sets the tone for this book, which may prove as valuable for library administrators as for patrons, with the advice contained in the first chapter’s title: “You’re Writing for Results–Not a Pulitzer Prize.” How to get results is the theme here, and the advice offered ranges from the broad (“How a fundraising letter is like a personal visit”) to the specific (“What to put on the outer envelope”; the injunction “Use `I’ and `you’”). Warwick also examines focus groups’ responses to a fund-raising letter and, step-by-step, a successful fund-raising appeal. Attention to detail (e.g., in a whole chapter on laying the groundwork before composing a fund-raising letter and another on thank-yous to donors) distinguishes the book, especially for nonprofessional fund-raisers. An excellent tool for an endeavor in which many people become involved only occasionally, good enough to consult in itself or to use as a guide in hiring a professional. Mike Tribby

Successful Fundraising : A Complete Handbook for Volunteers and Professionals

Drawing on her experience in leading fundraising workshops for nonprofits, Flanagan has written a practical manual that will be of use to both novice and experienced fundraisers in all types of organizations. She provides an overview of all the possibilities–memberships, big gifts, planned giving, product sales and cause-related marketing, and foundation grants–and gives specific examples of strategies used by large and small organizations. Flanagan is also realistic about moving from dreaming about money to going out and getting it. She includes an annotated reading list and offers a good discussion of the resources provided by the Foundation Center and other organizations. In these lean times, nonprofits must know every revenue source. This book identifies those sources and offers ethical and profitable strategies for tapping them.
- Mary Jane Ballou, Ford Fdn. Lib., New York

Product Description

There are now more than 1 million nonprofit organizations in the United States. The fundraising industry provides one in every ten jobs and is one of the fastest-growing segments of the economy. In Successful Fundraising, nationally recognized expert Joan Flanagan gives readers the information they need to capture a fair share of available fundraising dollars. Community volunteers and professional fundraisers alike will find helpful tips and advice on time-proven fundraising techniques and the most profitable new ways to successfully raise money.