When you can anticipate the questions on your donor’s mind, you can be better prepared to provide the stories and facts that your donor really wants to know.  Harvey McKinnon has just made it very easy for us to better understand our donors and what’s on their minds. 

The 11 Questions Every Donor Asks takes you on a journey through the conscious and subconscious questions that are bound to pop into any donor’s head.  From “why me?” to “how will you measure results” Harvey gives us not only the questions but easy to understand techniques to answer them and alleviate any fears the donor may have.  

This book is short and easy to read and includes lots of stories of real people and real situations.   No matter what your fundraising experience, you’re bound to find a treasure trove of wisdom in its pages.

Get yours at http://www.contributionsmagazine.com/bookstore.html.

My friend Sandra Sims at Step By Step Fundraising has a series of articles on grant writing this month.  One article features a long list of grant writing resources.  Read for yourself at http://stepbystepfundraising.com/20-free-grant-writing-resources-non-profits/.

I had the pleasure of speaking to the AFP chapter in Jackson, Mississippi recently.  I love being with other fundraisers!  There’s such a bond through common challenges and successes.  I love hearing what others are doing and getting ideas from them.  (This helps me keep from reinventing the wheel!)

In my presentation, I focused on going back to the basics.  With the economy being a bit tight for many people, it’s smart to make sure you are taking care of your current donors.  It’s cheaper to keep an existing donor than to go get a new donor.

Here are a few of the tips I shared with the group in my presentation:

- Provide your donors with a good experience.  It’s likely that they are supporting other organizations and if you do a better job of customer service, you’ll stand out in the donor’s mind.

- Pay attention to the details.  Make sure you spell the donor’s name correctly.  Send the thank you letter to the person who made the gift.  Use the proper salutation. 

- Acknowledge gifts promptly and sincerely.  Change your thank you letter regularly (monthly is ideal!). Get creative about ways you can acknowledge and thank donors and it will help build a valuable relationship with the donor.

This is me and two of my new friends: Julia Daily and Marilyn  Blackledge.  Julia is the Program Chair for the Chapter and the Executive Director of the Mississippi Crafts Center.  I got to see her organization while I was there and it was very cool!  Marilyn is the Chapter President and Director of Development for the Mississippi Food Network.  That’s a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart. 

There was a shooting at a high school not too far from me today.  I was stunned to hear that a 15-year old boy was shot and killed in the cafeteria before school.

I don’t understand why things like this happen.  Sometimes I think I understand why people behave they do, but other days I don’t think I do.  It seems so senseless to me.  

What I know is that there are hundreds of nonprofit organizations and volunteers in my area trying to help people have better lives.   I know that there are lots of people who care and who give of themselves day in and day out to improve someone else’s situation.

It’s tough to hear news like this.  But it’s an affirmation that the work we do is important is much needed in the world.