Are you a volunteer for a Nonprofit Organization?  If so, the organization is usually in fundraising campaign mode.  Often this can be associated with a special event but there are also capital campaigns, annual campaigns and a host of other fundraising efforts that involve the Board and other volunteers.  Here are a host of ‘Truths’ anyone associated with charitable fundraising needs to consider.

1. Nonprofit Organizations (NPOs) are not entitled to support; they must earn it.
2. Successful fund-raising is not magic; it is simply hard work on the part of people who are thoroughly prepared.
3. Fund-raising is not raising money; it is raising friends.
4. You do not raise money by begging for it; you raise it by selling people on your cause.
5. People do not just reach for their checkbooks and give money to a charity; they have to be asked to give.
6. You don’t wait for the “right” moment to ask; you ask now.
7. Do not rely on the NPO Development Officer to make the Ask; Board members and those committed to the organizations do it with support from the Dev Officer.
8. You don’t decide today to raise money and then start the campaign tomorrow: it takes time, patience, and planning to raise money.
9. Prospects and donors are not cash crops waiting to be harvested; treat them as you would customers in a business. It doesn’t take a genius to raise money.
10. The process is a combination of common sense, preparation, courtesy, commitment, enthusiasm, understanding, and a belief in what you are asking others to support.

Do they resonate with you? We welcome your comments.

This article is excerpted from Tony Poderis, Tony@raise-funds.com, with his permission.

[Feature photo from the Carelink Foundation]