Uncovering the Secrets of Sponsorship

Sep 23, 2019
 

It may be hard to reflect on the worst thing about your last fundraising event. But as Chris Baylis of the Sponsorship Collective reveals, this type of data is critical to getting companies interested in sponsoring your organization.

In anticipation of our first webinar, The Fundraisers' Guide to Corporate Giving, webinar hosts Cathy Mann & Chris Baylis sat down and recorded a podcast episode about what is often perceived as the "secretive" world of...

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I tried a little experiment

Jul 31, 2019

I tried a little experiment recently. On LinkedIn, I asked a simple question: what advice would you give to your younger fundraising self? A couple of dozen folks shared their best advice. Here’s a link to the article I wrote about it in case you want to check it out.

Their responses got me thinking. So I tried another experiment. I asked, ““What are the fundraising questions keeping you up at night?” and offered to answer as many as I could. Over the course...

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9 things I wish I had known early in my fundraising career

May 07, 2019

I’ve been working in fundraising for a long time. As a result, sometimes, I think things that are common sense – simply because I’ve been at this for a while – are not common at all. I was reminded of this a few years ago when friends helped my partner and I re-side an extension on our house. It was humbling and an important lesson. In the arrogant way that only a complete naïve can offer, I said, “It’s a little extension. How hard can it be to...

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Making the connection between fundraising and services

Dec 17, 2018

I have a friend who’s dying of ALS. My great-niece has Cystic Fibrosis and my mother died of breast cancer 6 years ago. These issues are all causes that fall into the realm of what we think of as traditional philanthropy. But traditional philanthropy is not what gets me fired up. To quote my colleague Rosemary Oliver who works at Amnesty International, “I want to create a better world, not just better conditions in the same world.”

I share these personal stories so...

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Heteropatriarchy on Fire?? Learnings from a newbie podcaster

Dec 07, 2018

I mean, come on.. who calls a podcast Heteropatriarchy on Fire? Well, I do. And I’m loving all of the really interesting things I’m learning and the challenging conversations I’m having and the belly laughs I’m sharing as I interview some leaders in the world of philanthropy.

The podcast is actually called It Doesn’t Hurt to Ask (itdoesnthurttoaskpodcast.com) and this season, I’m interviewing Shift Disturbers in Philanthropy. Heteropatriarchy on Fire, which...

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Beyond floating babies to social change philanthropy

Dec 01, 2018

For years, I used the story of babies floating in a river to describe the difference between social change organizations and more traditional charities. In case you’re not familiar with it, it goes like this: a passerby saw a baby floating down the river, jumped in and saved him. Day after day, more babies showed up in the river. The community organized, set up teams to watch for and save the babies floating down the river. Eventually, someone asked why the babies were showing up in the...

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Fundraising Events: So much more than money

May 22, 2018

This kid slays me. She’s five years old and she’s my great-niece.

When Maddie was born she was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. We were afraid but her mom (my niece) and her dad were matter-of-fact: they weren’t going to let CF interfere with their daughter having an amazing life. Evening inhalers, medication and frequent hospital visits were the new normal. The other stuff didn’t change: rambunctious playing with all three kids, and family trips and picnics and hikes...

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The privilege of being a fundraiser

Mar 21, 2017

I love writing direct mail letters.

I love hearing people’s stories and why they’re passionate about the causes they support. And I’m curious about people, so writing direct mail letters gives me an opportunity to meet interesting people doing cool things.

If you know me, you may know that, given the opportunity, I can talk the ear off an elephant. But when I’m interviewing people for direct mail letters, I work really hard at listening. And when the stars are aligned,...

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