The Better Fundraising Library
FREE eBOOKS
A “Fundraising Offer” is what a piece of fundraising promises will happen when a donor makes a gift.
If you want to make great offers for your organization – if you want to raise more money – download this eBook!
It’s the #1 way to increase your fundraising revenue immediately; Ask your donors in more powerful ways.
You can improve your appeals… emails… events… in-person major donor Asks.
If you ask more powerfully, you’ll raise more money.
Most donors drift away – not because they're unhappy, but because no one ever showed them their gift made a difference.
This free ebook teaches you the Before + After Story structure so your donors can actually feel the impact of their gift. When donors feel that, they stick around and give more.
Just “telling better stories” isn’t a magical key to fundraising success. You’ll learn which types of stories to tell, and when to tell them, to deepen the relationship with your donors and cause them to take action.
Download the free eBook and dive right into better fundraising right now!
The graphics illustrate the principles behind our approach – in a super easy-to-understand way – to help anyone who thinks they could be raising more money.
Download your free copy today. Make these graphics part of your fundraising culture and you’ll start raising more money and keeping your donors longer!
The ideas and tactics in this free eBook are not a gimmick. They are tried, true, and tested ways that will help you raise more money from your print newsletters and better engage your wonderful donors.
Download the free eBook and start using your newsletter to motivate donors.
Learn 51 fundraising lessons Steven shared on his 51st birthday, in a short e-Book.
All of them will be helpful to you! You'll enjoy your Fundraising life more, and you'll raise more money and do more good.
Your organization will make ‘the leap’ to the next level of fundraising as you learn different types of complaints and how to respond to a Complainer. We give you a simple system for handling all complaints.
As your organization stops fearing complaints, you’ll start feeling freer to be bold and raise more money!
You’ll never have to stare at a blank screen again when you write a fundraising letter.
Download Appeal Letters in a Box and get tons of ideas as you read successful examples of 7 of the most common appeal letters.
Learn the strategies & actions that helped our clients raise more than $1,000,000 annually from their individual donors for the very first time.
Do you have major donors who love your mission but aren't making their best gifts? Learn "The Fix" — the storytelling secret that transforms major donor fundraising without complex systems or overwhelming processes.
Download this free eBook and discover the Problem, Solution, Value, Urgency framework, plus proven strategies for successful donor meetings and year-round communications that unlock transformational giving.
Your donors want to help — but only if they can quickly understand what you’re asking and why it matters.
This eBook walks you through the small, generous changes that make your fundraising easier to read, easier to feel, and easier to respond to. When you make fundraising accessible, you invite more people into your mission.
OTHER RESOURCES
Get your free Proforma — a specially-built excel spreadsheet that tracks fundraising performance. It’s a tool pro fundraising organizations use to a) track their performance to get better every year, and b) predict how much they are going to raise the following year.
Use the Thankuary Cheat Sheet for thanking your donors so that they feel your gratitude and become more likely to give you additional gifts in the future.
You’ve heard us talk about how you’ll raise more money if your fundraising focuses on part of what your organization does, not all of what you do. Did you know you can do that and still raise undesignated funds?
Download this free White Paper – then get specific in your next appeal. And start raising more money!
Download our free sample worksheet to easily rank and sort your donors, and whether each donor has a strong affinity to your organization or to your cause.
This comprehensive White Paper will show you how to attract and steward donors who give through DAFs, overcome common challenges, and implement best practices for handling these unique (and valuable) contributions.
Don't let DAF donations slip through the cracks – download now to future-proof your fundraising strategy.
A Creative Brief can be your fundraising North Star – the guide you turn to during a campaign when you or someone on your team needs direction.
Don't let your fundraising efforts become disjointed – download the sample Creative Brief now and customize it for your next campaign. Your project planning and execution will never be the same!
New tax laws have changed how charitable giving works – and your donors are already asking questions about it.
This free playbook breaks down exactly what changed for every kind of donor, and gives you simple, plain-English talking points so you always have an answer ready.
FUNDRAISING VIDEOS
Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat
Ask, Thank, Report, Repeat is Better Fundraising's way of describing what the data shows. It's a simple framework. But the details of how you do each step is where donors either stay – or quietly disappear.
In this short video, Steven walks through the system and explains why getting it right turns your fundraising into a growth machine.
Learn more about each part of our system
Ask: What an Appeal Is Actually For
Watch this video and discover why the best asks are about tomorrow, not yesterday.
Most organizations write appeals and talk about the work they've done. These appeals include stories of people already helped, or of problems already solved.
The appeals that raise the most money do something different. They invite donors to be part of important work that needs to be done soon. They extend an invitation to a donor to make tomorrow better.
In this short video, Steven Screen explains how Better Fundraising thinks about the Ask -- and why helping organizations get more comfortable asking, and asking more often, is some of the most important work they do.
Thank: What Thanking Is Actually For
Watch this video and discover why the best thank-yous aren't about your organization at all
Most thank-yous say 'thank you for your support of [Organization Name].' They confirm the gift arrived. And that's about it.
But really good thanking – the kind that keeps donors giving year after year – does something different.
In this short video, Steven Screen explains how Better Fundraising thinks about Thanking – and why the way you thank a donor is one of the most powerful signals you send about how much she matters to your organization.
Report: What Donors Actually Want to Hear
Watch this video and discover what donors actually want to hear from you after they give
Most organizations fill their Newsletters and Reports with what they've accomplished. People served. Program reach. Stats and data. They want donors to know their donations are being used effectively.
But your donors already know you're effective (otherwise, would they have given in the first place?). What they want to know is something more personal: did I make a meaningful difference in the world?
In this short video, Steven Screen explains how Better Fundraising thinks about Reporting – and why making one shift, from organizational accomplishments to donor impact, changes everything.
Repeat: Where Real Growth Happens
Watch this video and discover why the most successful fundraising programs aren't starting from scratch every time.
Most fundraising programs are running on a loop that looks something like this: ask, maybe thank, ask again. And every campaign starts from zero – trying to re-earn donor trust that was never fully built.
The organizations that grow are running a different loop. They ask, they thank donors in a way that makes them feel seen, and they report back with real stories that show donors their gift made a difference. And when they do all three well, something shifts.
Donors trust them. They open the next appeal. They give again. They give more. The foundation gets stronger every time around the loop.
In this short video, Steven Screen explains what Repeat really means – and why it's the step where the whole system pays off.
Watch more fundraising videos
Free Videos from Steven Screen
What Donors Are Actually Looking For When They Open Your Newsletter
Offer Amount vs. Ask Amount
The Billion Dollar Lesson
How to Raise More From Every Appeal, Every Year
What to do when your major gift fundraising stalls
The story donors want to hear
