Tag: book

Book Recommendation

Steven Screen  |  Report

If you work at a nonprofit and raise money, there’s a book you should read.

It’s called Stories That Raise Money, and it’s written by Chris Davenport.

The book helps you know which stories to tell, and how to tell them.  I won’t spoil anything else about it, other than give you a couple choice quotes to whet your appetite:

“You can write a clear, accurate, important message about your organization and still raise almost nothing. 

The donor reads it, nods, and goes to make dinner.

Something has to happen in the donor before they’ll give” (emphasis added).

The “thing that has to happen in the donor” is that the donor has to care.  So, much of the book is about how to make your donors care enough about what you do so that they want to fund your wok. 

“A story can be true and still not make a donor care.  True is the easy part.  Caring is what you have to build.

These chapters give you the tools to build caring on purpose, so the donor feels what’s at stake and wants to do something about it.” 

That’s a pretty good description of the main job of us Fundraisers – build caring on purpose so that donors feel what’s at stake and want to do something.  This book will help you do your job even better than you’re already doing it. 

If you buy the book now, you’ll also get a bunch of valuable add-ons because Chris is running a “book launch” special.

Check it out.  Highly recommended.

Helpful New Book/Tool for Fundraisers

Steven Screen  |  Repeat

Every once in a while, something crosses my desk that I think would be helpful to a lot of Fundraisers.

This is one of those times – and it’s free!

There’s a new book out called “Story Prompts for Nonprofits.” It’s written by Chris Davenport, the founder of the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference.

This book will be incredibly helpful if you’ve ever struggled with writer’s block, or had a fundraising brainstorming meeting that didn’t go anywhere. (I think it’s more of a “helpful tool” than a book, which you’ll see in a second.)

It’s a free download. Or you can buy a physical copy for $20.

To give you a better sense of why I think of this as a “tool” you’ll keep within reach on your desk, here’s the description: “900+ storytelling prompts for attracting new donors, generating media buzz, connecting with your community, and deepening relationships with donors!”

The story prompts are categorized by nonprofit sector, by types of beneficiaries, and by the types of help that an organization provides.

I think that’s remarkably helpful because one thing I always hear is, “I see lots of examples of fundraising for organizations that feed and house people, but that’s not what we do and I don’t know what will work for what we do!”

I obviously can’t promise that your exact sector and program activities are covered in this book. But there are more than 900 prompts, and I’m sure you’ll find more prompts that apply to you and your organization’s work than you’ll need in a year.

If you’ve ever wondered which of your stories to tell to engage, inspire and cause action in your donors, I think this book will help!