The early part of my fundraising career was rough. Like most of us at that stage, I didn't have a clue. And I didn't really want to have a clue.
Have you seen the movie "A Clockwork Orange"? That terrible scene toward the end where the Malcolm McDowell character was given an extreme form of aversion therapy by having his eyelids clipped open, forcing him to watch films of violent and cruel acts? My early career was kind of like that. I made terrible fundraising mistakes. Then watched the results, unable to turn away. It was all there right in my face.
After a while, I started paying real attention. What worked. What didn't.
Better yet, I tested all kinds of notions. I was surprised more often than not by the results of these tests, because what works is often not what your common sense or instinct tells you.
The more I tested, learned, and understood, the more money my clients made. It got to the point where most clients experienced a sudden and dramatic turnaround in fundraising results.
I finally learned that there are certain things you just have to be sure to do (and not do) to make fundraising work right. It's kind of like the great Russian novelist Leon Tolstoy said about families: "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Fundraising is like that. There are a million ways to do ineffective fundraising. New ways of being ineffective are being invented every day. Meanwhile, the effective stuff, the stuff that's bringing in all the revenue and winning the hearts of all the donors ... it's pretty similar. It's being done by the handful of wide-awake professionals (and a few lucky amateurs) who get it right.
It took a while to get where I could see the patterns. It took longer before I was able to articulate those patterns and get to the point where I could fairly accurately see the difference between a strong fundraising message and a weak one -- ahead of time.
I'm telling you all of this for two reasons:
- To encourage those who are new to the profession. It's a weird one. It takes a while to understand.
- Because I'm ready to help you zip quickly up your own learning curve by means of a free Moceanic webinar I'm presenting this month.
It's called Irresistible Communications for Great Non-Profits. And yes, I said free.
It's on October 19 or 20 (depending where in the world you are). And if you can't make either the of times, don't worry -- sign up anyway and you'll have access to the recorded webinar.
Interested? Sign up here! I hope to see you there.
from Future Fundraising Now http://ift.tt/2wNzlM7
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