Posted on 6/22/2016 By Rebekah Burch Basinger
The theme of the Harvard Business Review article is networking. However, the quoted comments from reluctant business schmoozers ring familiar to the way fundraising-adverse nonprofit folk talk about asking for money.
Uncomfortable, phony, distasteful, a necessary evil, feels slimy.
I’ve heard them all, including from ministry leaders who claim to have accepted the good news of fundraising as ministry.
Posted on 6/2/2016 By Rebekah Burch Basinger
Cross-posted from Rebekah Burch Basinger's blog, Generous Matters. Read her original post here.
Topping the list of frequently asked board-related questions that come my way is how to fill empty board seats with quality recruits. With nonprofits proliferating at breakneck speed, competition for board members is keen. Throw in expectations like competent, committed, and/or generous and you might as well be chasing Bigfoot. There ain’t no such creature out there — or so seems.
Fortunately, there is.
Posted on 5/11/2016 By Rebekah Burch Basinger
Cross-posted from Rebekah Burch Basinger's excellent blog, Generous Matters. Read her original post here.
A flood of emails urged members of a ministry’s Outreach Committee to round-up prizes for the spring bike/walk fundraiser. We’re talking a veritable fundraiser’s dream team — networked, talented, and unafraid to ask big — being “challenged” to chase after everything from free movie passes and ice cream coupons to a $5-$10 gift certificate. “Or whatever the owner is willing to give.”
It’s a toss-up whether I cry or scream about the colossal waste of volunteer time and connections.