We are entering the busiest time of year for fundraising appeals and income. Do you have your plan in place with benchmarks to know (along the way) that you are likely to reach your goals? Do you have processes in place to ensure that donors are thanked promptly (and accurately)? Are you thinking for the long-term and have a system to provide ongoing communication about how the donors gift was used – rather than simply asking for another gift? Is your board engaged in asking for money? If you answered ‘no’ to any of these questions, please call me and we can put together a plan to ensure that you are maximizing this opportunity to raise renewable funding for your organization.

Here’s a summary of this week’s articles and blogs related to fundraising and nonprofit organizations. As always, please share this with others might benefit from the information. Thanks again for reading!

FUNDRAISING

• Essential Elements of a Fundraising Letter http://bit.ly/bCZKGn Resource Center – AFP
• Having the right donors, rather than more donors, is better. http://bit.ly/cTwLLH Transformational Giving
• Signs of Growth as Nonprofits Push for Strong Year-End http://bit.ly/c7cm4t AFP
• Do the math to simplify your funding story http://bit.ly/bqbUka forimpact.org
• Things that should scare fundraisers (if the boss loves it, go back to the drawing board) http://bit.ly/a6Wj5T Future Fundraising Now
• Nearly 60% of Big Companies Cut Their Giving in 2009 (but some increased) http://bit.ly/99MyAa The Chronicle of Philanthropy
• U.S. is feeling charitable, just not through churches | http://bit.ly/96cQ14 The Christian Century

TECHNOLOGY/SOCIAL MEDIA

• 4 ways to overcome the digital ‘emotion deficit’ http://bit.ly/bVlx4X Future Fundraising Now
• The Top 20 Nonprofit Groups on Twitter http://bit.ly/9QxA9s The Chronicle of Philanthropy

NONPROFIT COMMUNICATIONS

• Nonprofit Marketing Dashboard: Key Metrics to Monitor http://bit.ly/anM1Nf Red Rooster Group
• Five Steps to Nonprofit Messaging Success | http://bit.ly/aoAFtd Nonprofit Marketing | Getting Attention
• Make it easier to know than to not know (tell a story) http://bit.ly/buW8tk PHILANTHROPY 2173

LEADERSHIP

• What does shared leadership look like? | http://bit.ly/9ujzeT Leadership Learning Community
• Unraveling Development | Create a Menu of Choices for Nonprofit Board Members http://bit.ly/aGWFAh @npquarterly
• 15 things all nonprofit board members should know/do. http://bit.ly/crYkeK www.bizlex.com
• When did trial and error become “do perfectly or fail”? http://bit.ly/dxc9j4 Idea Architects
• Vital Voices: Lessons Learned from Board Members of Color http://bit.ly/b9TPVw Philanthropy Potluck
• Like Leaders Do: Getting Everyone on Your Team to Do the Things Leaders Do http://bit.ly/anFTeW « i On Nonprofits

OTHER

• 20+ Free Nonprofit Webinars for November 2010 http://bit.ly/bR4JsX Wild Apricot Blog
• Holiday Volunteering – Asking for Time Not Just Money http://bit.ly/aeb2H7 Katya’s Blog
• Twenty Years After ADA, Disabled Americans Still Living with Inequality http://bit.ly/cpSMWx « Philanthropy Potluck
• Transparency for learning, not punishment. http://bit.ly/9gd4MK Pulling for the Underdog
• Summary of recent happiness research (positive trumps the negative) http://bit.ly/ahaSQb Social Capital Blog
• Recession Driving Changes (and creativity) in Corporate Philanthropy http://bit.ly/aaD1Yj US News and World Report
• The Nonprofit Financial Model Never Worked; Here’s a New Model That Does | http://bit.ly/bsgFJt Fast Company