Great Fundraising Organizations

ALAN CLAYTON is the founder and CEO of Revolutionise International, a fourteen-year-old consultancy that works with name-brand NGOs worldwide to “accelerate people with purpose.” His firm has helped more than 500 organizations, including UNICEF, WWF, Oxfam, and many smaller and medium sized nonprofits solve their problems through a signature blend of research, teaching, and execution.

• Foreword xiiiIntroduction: “How Can It Be So Hard to Save a Child?” 1Learning from the Best 3Research on the Great Fundraising Organizations 5Discovering the Red Dot 7Turning Intuition into Methodology 10What You Can Expect from This Book 13The Delight of Doing a Good Thing 15Part I Triggering the Red Dot 191 Two Businesses, One Mission 21Two Businesses 24Three Conflicts 30Cultural Conflict 30Investment Conflict 33Communications Conflict 35Be the Best at Both 37Respect and Dialogue 38Education 39A Shared Ambition 40What Can You Do? 412 From Governance to Growth: The Trifecta 47The Trifecta Is a Leadership Issue 53Think Big Picture 55Focus on Leading People 55Live with Uncertainty 55Shifting Mindsets: From Governance to Growth 563 Alignment Begins with the New Ambition 65Cascading Effect 69Communications Hierarchy 70Purpose Versus New Ambition 72“We Have a Problem. You Can Help Solve It.” 754 Not Any Ambition Will Do 83Pragmatism to Idealism 86Why, What, How 90Differentiate Your Organization 91Problem 91Proposed Solution 91Personality 92Passion 92Checklist for a Good Ambition 925 Investment and Ambition 101Deciding Your Financial Aspiration 104The Power of Long-Term Thinking 107Understanding Investment 111Types of Investments 113Sources of Investment 114Calculating Investment 1156 Culture and Ambition 121Why a Donor-Conscious Organization? 125What Stops Great Fundraising? 127Creating a Donor-Conscious Organization 128Quality Management Systems: Building Blocks for Great Fundraising 128Memetics 131Part II Striving for Emotional Excellence 1397 You Are in the Emotions Business 141Prejudice Against Emotions 145Truth Well-Told 147The Science of Storytelling: Focus Your Emotion 149Find Your Magic 1518 Identifying Donor Needs 159Identifying Versus Changing Needs 162Why People Give 164Healing 164Happiness 165Self-Esteem 165Connection 166Meaningful Life 166Identifying Your Donors 167Identifying Your Donor’s Needs 171Psychographic Model 171Biological Model 175Identity Model 1769 Meeting Donor Needs: Creating Great Fundraising Communications 183Meeting Donor Needs 186Exquisite Stories 190Creating Great Fundraising Communications 195Where Does Brand Fit In? 19810 Financial Leadership 205Understand Lifetime Value and Growth 208Test to Make Ideas Work 210Test 1: Will Anyone Give to Us? 211Test 2: Improve Cost per Acquisition 212Test 3: Look at All the Details 212Test 4: How Do You Maximize Lifetime Value? 213Be Proactive 214Get on the Front Foot 215Train Them on the Financials 215Change How You Report Progress and Learnings 216Help the Senior Leadership Team Manage Risk 217Be Financially Astute 21711 Leadership Decisions 221Hierarchy of Purpose 224Fear of Criticism 22612 How to Get Going 233Eight Steps to Success 238Build Your Troupe 239Train Your Leadership 239Create a New Ambition 240Embed the Culture 240Data 241Create an Investment Plan 241Line Up and Go 241Keep Going 242Bonus: Do it all Again 242Conclusion 249Acknowledgments 255Index 259