The Fundraising Coach

Over the years, I've heard countless nonprofit leaders say some version of the same thing: "Our board has a governance problem." Sometimes they're right. A board may have outdated bylaws, weak committee structures, poor orientation for new members, or unclear policies. Those issues certainly matter, and they deserve attention. But after facilitating hundreds of board retreats and strategic planning sessions over the past twenty years, I've come to a different conclusion. More often than not, governance isn't the real problem. It's simply the symptom. The real issue usually runs much deeper, and it's one that few boards are willing to acknowledge. In my experience, the greatest weakness of many nonprofit boards isn't a lack of intelligence, experience, or commitment. In fact, most boards are filled with remarkably accomplished people. They include CEOs, physicians, attorneys, entrepreneurs, bankers, educators, accountants, business owners, and community leaders. These are individuals who routinely make difficult decisions in their professional lives. They negotiate contracts, terminate employees, challenge assumptions, manage crises, and accept responsibility for decisions that affect hundreds or even thousands of people. Yet something curious often happens when those same individuals walk into a nonprofit board meeting. The decisiveness they display everywhere else suddenly becomes caution. Tune in to Learn More!

Many nonprofits believe their mission alone should inspire support. Unfortunately, donors are not mind readers. They cannot automatically feel your impact, understand your programs, appreciate your culture, or grasp the urgency of your work simply because your organization exists. That understanding must be communicated clearly, consistently, emotionally, and professionally. And that's where many nonprofits struggle. Some organizations are doing extraordinary work while presenting themselves with outdated brochures, confusing websites, blurry photos, weak messaging, and annual reports that look like they were assembled during a power outage with leftover clip art from COVID. Meanwhile, organizations with half the impact and twice the marketing budget are raising significantly more money because they understand something important: Presentation influences perception. That may sound shallow, but it's reality. Donors make judgments constantly based on professionalism, clarity, consistency, visual quality, storytelling, and emotional connection. Strong marketing materials signal competence, credibility, momentum, leadership, and trustworthiness. Weak marketing materials signal confusion. Tune in to learn more!

Preparation reduces anxiety It also increases confidence, clarity, credibility, and effectiveness. Unfortunately, too many nonprofit leaders and development staff walk into donor meetings carrying little more than optimism, caffeine, and vague hope that "something good will happen." Then midway through the meeting, they forget key facts, stumble through the organization's impact numbers, contradict each other in group meetings, or launch into rambling explanations that sound like a hostage reading cue cards. Not ideal. Great fundraisers—the strongest relationship-based fundraisers—approach donor preparation very differently. They think strategically before every donor interaction. They anticipate questions. They rehearse conversations. They study the donor carefully. They coordinate messaging. They eliminate surprises wherever possible. In short, they prepare. And yes, occasionally they still sweat through their shirt anyway. But at least they sweat professionally. :-) Tune in to learn more!

For many nonprofit leaders and fundraisers, making the initial donor call feels about as comfortable as parallel parking a boat. Even highly confident professionals suddenly become nervous, overly formal, or strangely robotic the moment they pick up the phone to call a potential donor. And honestly, it makes sense. Fundraising calls carry emotional pressure. You don't want to sound pushy. You don't want to waste the donor's time. You definitely don't want to sound like a telemarketer calling during dinner asking whether they'd like to switch long-distance providers in 1997. So what do most people do? They ramble. They over-explain. They talk too long. They apologize unnecessarily. They bury the purpose of the call beneath five minutes of weather updates and nervous storytelling before finally blurting out something vague about "getting together sometime." Meanwhile, the donor has spent the entire conversation wondering, "What exactly is happening right now?" Tune in to learn more!

The Importance of Building a Donor Pipeline BEFORE You need It! Here's a truth most development directors don't want to admit out loud: Your donor base is quietly shrinking. Not because you're doing bad work. Not because your mission isn't compelling. Not because your fundraising team isn't trying. But because donors are human. They retire. They relocate. They redirect their giving. They get distracted by grandkids. They fall in love with a new cause. And sometimes, without warning, they just have a change of heart before writing that six-figure check you were sure was coming. If you are not consistently identifying and cultivating new donors, you are not building stability, you're borrowing time. Savvy fundraisers understand this. They are not paranoid. They are practical. They know fundraising is part math, part psychology, and part ongoing treasure hunt. And they know something else: The organizations that prospect consistently don't panic. The ones that don't . . . eventually do. Let's talk about how to build a donor pipeline that is deep, resilient, and slightly unstoppable.

Part 3 of 3: Ask Better, Raise More Money -- Fundraising Ask Tactics and Strategies Most fundraisers spend far too much time worrying about the "perfect ask," as if somewhere out there is one magical sentence that makes every donor instantly reach for a checkbook. There isn't. Fundraising is not a Jedi mind trick, and donors are not slot machines you jiggle until money falls out. The truth is much more practical: different donors respond to different types of asks, and the best fundraisers know how to choose the right one for the right person at the right moment. That's why experienced fundraisers don't fall in love with just one asking style. They build a toolkit. They know when to keep it simple, when to make it visual, when to create momentum, when to lean into competition, and when to invite support without asking for money at all. In other words, they don't walk into every donor meeting swinging the same hammer and hoping everything turns into a nail. They use judgment, timing, and a little creativity—which, frankly, beats awkward begging every time. In Part 1 and Part 2, we covered the foundational and scalable ask strategies that drive day-to-day fundraising success. In this final part of the series, we turn to long-term strategy—exploring the ask types that create stability, permanence, and legacy-level impact.

Part 1 of 3: Ask Better, Raise More Money -- Fundraising Ask Tactics and Strategies Most fundraisers spend far too much time worrying about the "perfect ask," as if somewhere out there is one magical sentence that makes every donor instantly reach for a checkbook. There isn't. Fundraising is not a Jedi mind trick, and donors are not slot machines you jiggle until money falls out. The truth is much more practical: different donors respond to different types of asks, and the best fundraisers know how to choose the right one for the right person at the right moment. That's why experienced fundraisers don't fall in love with just one asking style. They build a toolkit. They know when to keep it simple, when to make it visual, when to create momentum, when to lean into competition, and when to invite support without asking for money at all. In other words, they don't walk into every donor meeting swinging the same hammer and hoping everything turns into a nail. They use judgment, timing, and a little creativity—which, frankly, beats awkward begging every time. This three-part series breaks down 14 proven types of fundraising asks you can use to raise more money more effectively. In this first installment, we'll cover five foundational ask types that every fundraiser should have ready at all times.

Let's be honest: most nonprofits don't need another event. They need better ones. The kind that doesn't drain staff, exhaust volunteers, or leave donors wondering why they just spent two hours listening to speeches when they could have been home in slippers. That's where specialty events come in. Savvy fundraisers love specialty events—typically gatherings of 10 to 75 people—because they create something you simply can't replicate at a big gala. Donors see friends they respect, meet peers they admire, and experience your mission together. There's energy in the room. Momentum. A subtle but unmistakable sense that this is something worth being part of. Listen in and Learn!

Fear not! To raise money, you and your fellow board members don't have to cold call strangers (or worse, friends), or suffer through awkward donor coffees where you feel like the people at the table next to you are eavesdropping on your shaky pitch. Nope. There's an alternative. It's a heck of a lot easier for board members to do things that support the fundraising efforts of the organization, rather than do something terrifying they loathe. Below is a list of 21 things board members with no fundraising experience can do to support the fundraising efforts of the organizations they care so much about. And for those board members who love to ask for money, give them a list of people to call and meet, and let them work their magic. For everyone else, have them choose a few things from the list below. Their contributions will lower the work burden of the fundraising staff and provide valuable resources and impact that will ultimately help raise more money. Listen in and learn!

Your first face-to-face meeting with a donor isn't a sales pitch or interview. And it's definitely not the time to comb through the details for your 30-page strategic plan. It's a discovery conversation—a delightful dance where you listen, learn, and laugh. Apply the following 10 tactics to get your first meeting right and the odds of landing a second meeting (and ultimately a donation) jump to more than 70%. Not bad for the cost of a latte and scone. Listen in and learn . . .

Ah, the board retreat. A magical time when board members gather to dive into strategic discussions, unleash big ideas, and nod sagely at visionary plans. You laugh, you brainstorm, you may even awkwardly roleplay. By the end, you've covered walls with stickies and flipchart paper, deepened your culture, and high-fived over fresh possibilities. And then… nothing. Everyone returns home. Retreat outcomes are emailed but never opened. The notes from the flipcharts are filed away and the long list of follow-up ToDos sits unopened in Dropbox. Another week passes and the staff still waits for next steps. The energy? Gone. The ideas? Ghosted. And that beautiful vision for the future has faded into the background noise of daily operations. Welcome to the infamous retreat afterglow hangover —where inspiration without implementation goes to die. This podcast is your resuscitation manual for retreat outcomes. Because unless you want all that time, energy, and trust to evaporate like a dry erase marker, you need more than good intentions. You need action planning. You need structure. And most of all, you need ownership. Listen in and learn . . .

Encountering objections when asking donors for money is a given. One tactic for handling objections would be to develop and memorize canned responses to every possible type of objec­tion. Experienced fundraisers know this tactic is futile, because a simple "ask" often triggers an avalanche of donor replies, ranging from polite deflections to excuses worthy of an improv show. A more effective approach is to master a simple process for handling objections that can be applied to any objection. Below is a simple, three-step process for handling objections. Just repeat it until you land a "yes," a "no," or an agreement on next steps—whether that means another meeting, sending a proposal, giving a tour, or showing off the blueprints for that shiny new facility. Tune in and learn . . .

Cultivation is the golden hour before the ask. It's when you introduce someone to your nonprofit, show them the heart behind the stats, the faces behind the facts, and the mission behind the jargon. And it isn't just about raising money—it's about raising friends, champions, connectors, and believers. Done well, cultivation deepens emotional connection, builds trust, and turns a casual observer into a loyal supporter. Done poorly, it feels like a used car sales pitch on a rainy afternoon. Listen in and learn!