Stop wandering in the wilderness. Put your nonprofit on the road to predictable success.Nonprofits are the engines of the social safety net, preservation and innovation in arts and culture, supporters of causes people care about, and a necessary part of every community. Yet large or small, nonprofits all struggle with translating their compelling visions and missions into reality. We all know the old saw, Fail to Plan; Plan to Fail. Nonprofits are especially vulnerable as boards and staffs tend to focus more on the day-to-day, serving their constituents, and raising money. Strategic planning is THE proven mechanism to translate and sustain the noble goals of the organization. Success Planning is the blueprint for crafting a metrics-driven, evidence-based planning process that gets concrete results.• Get the results your organization needs with a robust strategic plan,• Become more efficient and effective with a focused Board and Staff,• Deliver services to your constituents with greater Return on Effort,• Delight your funders with concrete evidence of your results,• Build a sustainable organization predictably reaching your goals

Success Planning for Nonprofits: Evidence-Based Strategic Planning

Bristol, Ellen

Staton-Reinstein, Rebecca

Business & Money

Gatekeeper Press

Strategic planning and tactical fundraising can maximize income and minimize costs Fundraising is the lifeblood of the nonprofit, and, successful or otherwise, determines the organization's ability to provide for the group it serves. Every organization attempts to lower overhead while increasing donations, but this often proves to be impossible within existing frameworks. Effective fundraising - increasing donations while engaging more donors and lowering costs - requires a sound strategy that turns major roadblocks into minor hurdles that are easily overcome. It's not about trying harder, it's about working smarter. Fundraising the SMART Way provides the groundwork for a complete revamp of organizational fundraising systems. Author Ellen Bristol applies twenty years of corporate sales experience and eighteen years in fund development consultation to the problem of inefficient fundraising. Bristol turns her extensive sales expertise toward the perspective of "selling" an organization to potential donors, increasing the donor pool, and lowering the cost of fundraising. The book details the questions every nonprofit should be asking to maximize the effectiveness of fundraising efforts, and encourages systematic strategy development by zeroing in on key factors such as: <ul>
<li>Organizational goals, strengths, and weaknesses</li> <li>Donor actions and motivations</li> <li>Workload management and results QA</li> <li>Opportunity evaluation and organizational action</li> </ul>
The book outlines clear, concrete, actionable steps that can be immediately implemented to escalate income growth. Effective fundraising is sustainable, consistent, and on-target. It must exceed current need and expand to fill future need. Fundraising the SMART Way represents a true breakthrough in that it lays a foundation for true systemic overhaul, and can be the catalyst for the growth of any nonprofit.

Fundraising the SMART Way, + Website: Predictable, Consistent Income Growth for Your Charity (The AFP/Wiley Fund Development Series)

Business Development & Entrepreneurship

wiley

Even some of the finest fund development programs have leaks—pockets of inefficiency that, left unaddressed, will continue to reduce the support the nonprofit organization receives from its fundraising program. The Leaky Bucket: What's Wrong with Your Fundraising and How You Can Fix it is a groundbreaking book that shows you how to find the leaks and plug them quickly and effectively. This book was inspired by coauthor Ellen Bristol's online assessment, the Leaky Bucket Assessment for Effective Fundraising. Ellen shares her expertise in ways to plan, manage, and improve fundraising performance based on the continuous improvement method. Linda Lysakowski, ACFRE, adds her 30-plus years of nonprofit experience as practitioner, consultant, multipublished author, and thought leader. These two powerful voices provide a wealth of insights into ways you just might be losing ground in your fundraising efforts, with guidance that shows you what you can do to improve results, right now and in the future. The authors provide some surprising insights from the Leaky Bucket survey, utilized as a springboard to the discussions throughout the book. Here are a few examples. <ul>
<li>Only about 23 percent of nonprofits make use of a documented ideal-donor profile. If that’s you, you’re at risk of wasting precious time and money on unqualified donor prospects. </li> <li>Only 27 percent track their donor renewal rates. If that’s you, you might just miss out on major gifts from loyal donors.</li> <li>Only about 22 percent have an up-to-date case for support.</li> <li>Just 45 percent of respondents have a strategic plan.</li> <li>Only 56 percent use any form of donor-management software.</li> </ul>
This book is a must-read for every nonprofit fundraiser, senior executive, and board member. Raising money is truly mission critical. The authors detail every area where your agency can improve results, not just for today but for year after year after year. Here’s what readers are saying: I wish I had The Leaky Bucket when I first started my development career. Insider tips and techniques combined with common-sense applications add up to a phenomenal blueprint that should be required reading by every fundraising or development professional. Lynne Viccaro O'Leary, Vice President – Marketing at Teachers Federal Credit Union (TFCU) I’m delighted to see The Leaky Bucket available to us. It’s a much-needed resource and a very welcome one. Andrew Watt, CEO, AFP International Ellen and Linda explain the critical best practices of fundraising in an artful and accessible way. Their insights have helped our board press the “reset” button and start over the right way. I’m telling all my nonprofit colleagues, "This is the book you have to buy next." Elly Du Pre, Executive Director, Lighthouse of Broward, Fort Lauderdale, Florida About CharityChannel's In the Trenches Series You'll know an In the Trenches book not just by its cover, but by the author's fun, upbeat writing style. But don't be fooled by its down-to-earth approach and ample use of sidebars. In the Trenches books are authoritative and cover what a beginner should know to get started and progress rapidly, and what a more experienced nonprofit-sector practitioner needs to move forward in the subject.

The Leaky Bucket: What?s Wrong with Your Fundraising and How You Can Fix It

Lysakowski, Linda

Management & Leadership

CharityChannel Press

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