After finishing your year-end campaign, I know you're thinking about all those thank-you cards you need to send. You ARE sending thank-yous, aren't you? I promise, it doesn't have to be hard. Even a fish can do it. See, I recently received this postcard: The image instantly got my attention. Why is that ridiculously happy man waving a fish at me? Oh! I bought some fish from him. Now he sent me this card, and I feel special! That's how our supporters should feel, too. Notice how simple the...
4 months ago • 1 min read
When you talk to people about funding your mission, do you get a “yes” every time? Does that make you hesitate at the next opportunity? I think it's important for us to remember even the best don't succeed at every try. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes won the Most Valuable Player award (again) at this year's Super Bowl. He threw 46 passes in the game, but only 34 were caught by teammates (and one was intercepted). During the season, "just" 67% of the passes he threw were completed. In school, 67%...
about 2 years ago • 1 min read
In the Food Network show Chopped, chefs compete to cook the best dish based on a basket of mystery ingredients. Just before contestants present their first dish to the judges, they must answer the question: What would it mean for you to win? The winner gets $10,000, but winning Chopped means so much more than money. This is the story element of the show. Each chef is playing for something personal to them. Some play in hopes of winning seed money for a new venture. Some play to prove...
over 2 years ago • 1 min read
Do you feel alone in your fundraising work? A lot of us do. And, in our isolation, we somehow convince ourselves that people will think less of us if we ask for help. Or we don't want to "bother" anyone. Or, we think people are too busy. As you craft your essential stories, case document, and other key elements of your fundraising story collection, you have a tremendous opportunity to engage supporters – not by sending out more information, but by asking for their advice. Simply invite some...
over 2 years ago • 1 min read
You may have noticed that sport is not the only business of sports. There is always inherent drama in a good sports matchup, but not everybody is into the game itself. Who are these people? What in the world are they doing? And why? Why would I watch something I don't understand? Formula 1 racing used to be a sport enjoyed almost exclusively by older, well-off European males. Complex rules, complicated courses, and a format that makes it hard to follow all meant the sport was just too...
almost 3 years ago • 1 min read
There’s an old philosophical question, ”When a tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?” Last week, I received an email from a longtime friend, asking for help with a medical issue for a young man halfway around the world. A small group banded together to pay for his travel to get treatment, but he didn’t survive the journey. The intensity of my own reaction to the young man’s death surprised me. I never met him. I didn’t know him. But his...
about 3 years ago • 2 min read
There was a kid in my fifth-grade class who could draw anything. He made a business of it, too. You could ask him to draw something (usually one of our favorite cartoon or comic characters) and a couple of days later, you'd have a perfect (if not original) work of art handed to you at recess. I think about this kid often. Not because of his art, but because of something he said. He told me he didn't plan on taking art classes, because he didn't want to ruin his "style". Nevermind his...
over 3 years ago • 1 min read
Ah, the transformation story! Someone was hurting. Things were all wrong. Then your donors stepped up and your organization was able to do life-changing work. Those stories are powerful and effective, and we love to tell them! But you and I know it's not always that clear. What if you don't know whether your intervention worked? How do we tell a story when it's just the beginning of a long process of change? How do we tell stories when we don't know the ending? I believe some of our internal...
over 3 years ago • 1 min read
People are often surprised when I tell them storytelling is a skill they can learn. I've been writing and telling stories for years, but I'm still spending this week at a retreat, learning more about this craft of writing and telling stories. There is always more to learn. Thankfully, it doesn't take much to get started. Here's how to create a simple story about just about anything. Two weeks ago, I released a new podcast episode and wrote a quick email to tell you about it. My original draft...
over 3 years ago • 1 min read