Beyond Giving
Practical thinking on fundraising, boards, and community. New posts every Thursday.
Fundraising Is a People Business, and Other Things I Believe
Welcome to Beyond Giving, a new post every Thursday on fundraising, boards, communications, equity, and data. First up: what I believe, and why.
Checking Your Appeals for Savior Framing
What savior framing looks like in fundraising words and images, a printable review checklist, and before-and-after sentences to borrow.
Choosing a Donor Database for a Small Organization
Requirements before demos, questions for vendors, the real cost including staff time, migration, and a scorecard for small nonprofits.
DEIJB, Defined Plainly
Diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and belonging, defined for a development office, with one concrete practice for each.
Gift Coding That Tells You Something
Funds, campaigns, appeals, and sources, explained for small shops, with a simple coding scheme and a one-page data dictionary template.
How a Major Gift Happens, Step by Step
Identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, stewardship: what each stage looks like in a small shop, plus a one-page prospect plan.
Is This Grant Worth It? A Go or No-Go Checklist
Before you write, score the grant: fit, odds, cost to apply, reporting burden, and relationship. A printable go or no-go checklist for small shops.
Recruiting Board Members Beyond Your Own Circle
Map the skills and perspectives your board needs, look beyond personal networks, and welcome new trustees as partners. A matrix template inside.
The One-Person Development Office: Where Your Week Should Go
A weekly rhythm for a development office of one: what to protect, what to drop or hand off, and a sample week you can copy.
Get Beyond Giving in your inbox.
One email a month with the latest posts and practical strategies for nonprofits and schools. No fluff.