Strategic Fund Development: Building Profitable Relationships That Last

Book Preface

Do You Need This Book?

This book is not just about fundraising.

Yes, fund development is the frame for this book; it’s right there in the title. But the foundation of the book is building effective and sustainable organizations. In fact, parts of this book are pretty much stand-alone publications on specific topics.

For example:

• Chapter 3 focuses on your internal operations. Use this chapter to learn about organizational culture and good decision-making. Learn what it means to define your organization’s values and why those matter. Use conversation as a core business practice and use questions to stimulate conversation. Do all this well and you’ll be stronger.
• Chapter 6 focuses on institutional strategic planning. This chapter tells you just about everything you need to know to do effective strategic planning in any organization. Forget fund development. Use this chapter—and its many examples—to carry out strategic planning at your organization. Strategic planning answers questions like: Why do you matter? Where are you going? How will you get to where you’re going? And this chapter shows you how to decide all this and how to develop your plan.
• Chapter 8 explains how to work with volunteers. Apply these enabling functions well, and you and your volunteers will be far more successful. Use these strategies to get the best governance and fundraising performance from your board members.

Should you buy this third edition if you already own the second edition? You’ll find lots of new stuff:

• More about leadership—in a separate chapter in this new edition.
• More about the fundraising professional—in a separate chapter in this new edition.
• More about fund development planning—including measures and tips to involve your board members in the process and implementation.
• Lots of new examples—keep the second edition for its examples, and check out the new examples in this third edition, posted on the book’s companion website: strategic plans, fund development plans, surveys, and more.
• New introductory chapter—highlighting key elements of fund development.
• Lots more cage-rattling questions—to stimulate you, your colleagues and board members, and the profession and sector. (Let’s agitate and make change!)
• And a website for the book with even more examples.