Scared of Year End?

October 31, 2018

Boo! Happy Halloween! November is here! Whoopee!   November 1st can be really scary if your giving numbers or metrics are not where they “should” be.  Are you reaching for the excuses?  Too many competing drives in the community…not enough staff….need more people in the pipeline…the new tax laws. Let’s stop the blame game and […]

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Thinking about Impact as you Ask this Year End (and always actually)

October 11, 2018

You are expected to raise money.  Your success fuels the work of your organization.  It is very important and honorable work. In just the past 3 weeks I’ve shared my belief in believingwith scores of folks in keynotes and sessions across the Midwest.  This week I’m with AFP-Lubbock, Texas. Wohoo! How you THINK about your […]

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Your opening line has a BIG impact on how your donors react and feel

September 26, 2018

Your opening line has a BIG impact on how your donors react and feel. Notice, I didn’t start with, “How WE open OUR year-end messages…” or “The Artful Asker has a tremendous success record of year end giving results…” Why? It’s all about you. It’s NOT about me.  It’s not about my company. Sure…WE accomplish […]

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“You can’t have fun without Excellence.” – Get BOTH in YOUR Year-End Results

September 12, 2018

Professor Mike Leckrone, 82, is completing his 50th year directing the University of Wisconsin Marching Band. He shared his plans with humor. “My doctors said I needed to slow down… so I’m looking for new doctors.” For most of my undergrad years the band was not open to women. Sensing this was Mike’s last year […]

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Wanna Do EVERYTHING Better?

August 22, 2018

Do you agree there’s magic in Three’s? The research will support you on this.  Going to the store for three things?  You say them to yourself. Ok. Four?  Probably need to write a list. There is something “doable” and memorable about three. This is important to understand in both your major gift development work…and your […]

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Four Tips to Finding Fulfillment in Fundraising!

August 8, 2018

You could feel the excitement as the dots connected at my MORE Major Gifts workshop! Artful relationship management! YES! This class, for the first time, contained a Board President, Director of Development and Development Assistant – all from the same organization!   You can be sure they will meet a massive year-end matching challenge after attending […]

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Your 3rd Quarter Vision. A million dreams is all it’s gonna take!

July 11, 2018

 As much as I am deliberately in the moment, present, drinking in every minute of this glorious summer, it is slipping past too fast.  Do you ever feel this? And somehow summer explodes all sorts of new ideas in my head – different ways to inspire generosity, to serve my clients, to help YOU have more […]

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Problems & Challenges: Bring Em On!!

June 27, 2018

“The secret to success is not to try to avoid or get rid of or shrink from your problems; the secret is to grow yourself so that you are bigger than any problem.” —T. Harv Eker Some days it seems everything is a challenge. Major gift calls cancel, the data base fails, you get bad […]

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A Bizarre Tale from South Africa

June 6, 2018

Ever had a volunteer’s passion go to unhelpful extremes? Let me share a tale from my trip to South Africa. We were told to bring candy, stickers and soccer balls, if we wished, for the fifty or so 1st to 8thgraders at a small black school near our safari camp.  So with candy, stickers and […]

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What does your future hold?

May 23, 2018

My son, RJ, just graduated from the UW Madison! Yep…we are bursting with pride and spent a wonderful 4 days celebrating. In a few short weeks he’ll be off to Boulder, Colorado and a new job with Major League Baseball Advanced Media creating some sort of mobile app. A sweet job, indeed. WoHOO! At 23, […]

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