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The Generosity Network: New Transformational Tools for Successful Fund-Raising
The Generosity Network is the essential guide to the art of activating resources of every kind behind any worthy cause. Philanthropist Jeff Walker and fund-raising expert Jennifer McCrea offer a fresh new perspective that can make the toughest challenges of nonprofit management and development less stressful, more rewarding—and even fun.
Walker and McCrea show how traditional pre-scripted, money-centered, goal-oriented fund-raising techniques lead to anxiety and failure, while open-spirited, curiosity-driven, person-to-person connections lead to discovery, growth—and often amazing results. Through engrossing personal stories, a wealth of innovative suggestions, and inspiring examples, they show nonprofit leaders how to build a community of engaged partners who share a common passion and are eager to provide the resources needed to change the world—not just money, but also time, talents, personal networks, creative thinking, public support, and all the other forms of social capital that often seem scanty yet are really abundant, waiting to be uncovered and mobilized.
Highly practical, motivating, and thought provoking, The Generosity Network is designed to energize and empower nonprofit leaders, managers, donors, board members, and other supporters. Whether you help run a multimillion-dollar global nonprofit or raise funds for a local scout troop, PTA, or other community organization, you’ll learn new approaches that will make your work more successful and enjoyable than ever.
From the Hardcover edition.
339 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
135 people are currently reading
560 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
February 17, 2016
This book was a good quick read with some helpful insights into the world of fundraising. Mainly geared towards individual gifts, I did not find it as useful for working with corporate partners. Nonetheless, Jennifer and Jefferey clearly have years of experience they are sharing through lots of storied examples. Here are some of my quick takeaways:
- "the real epiphany came one day when the real difference between salesmanship and raising money for a great (social cause) suddenly hit me. I'm not selling anything, I realized. I'm enabling people to contribute to a dream."
- DonorsChoose.org clearly highlights the fact that everyone wants to connect with the person they are helping. Technology now lets us tell a more concrete story (and even connect) to our donors about those they are helping
The rest of the book really focused on a lot of examples of how important it is to put the relationship first. Just like anytime you are asking someone for money - it's all about establishing a relationship, understanding what is important to them, and highlighting impactful stories - not data dumping a ton of statistics and trying to convince them how real the problem is you are trying to solve. Focus on the positive opportunities, and align what your organization does with what is important to your donors.
- "the real epiphany came one day when the real difference between salesmanship and raising money for a great (social cause) suddenly hit me. I'm not selling anything, I realized. I'm enabling people to contribute to a dream."
- DonorsChoose.org clearly highlights the fact that everyone wants to connect with the person they are helping. Technology now lets us tell a more concrete story (and even connect) to our donors about those they are helping
The rest of the book really focused on a lot of examples of how important it is to put the relationship first. Just like anytime you are asking someone for money - it's all about establishing a relationship, understanding what is important to them, and highlighting impactful stories - not data dumping a ton of statistics and trying to convince them how real the problem is you are trying to solve. Focus on the positive opportunities, and align what your organization does with what is important to your donors.
December 1, 2014
This book synthesizes a great deal of, while not new, good content into a well organized whole. A great deal of the content is entirely consistent with my experience at The Boeing Company: I think that is a positive? The Epilogue is very good in describing - in other words - the "good life" that is at once contemplative, active, a life of service, and to some extent pessimistic.
The Avatar Strategy is new and insightful, and seems quite promising.
I disagree profoundly with the p. 243 assertion that "The fiduciary board does not represent "owners" or "investors," since these groups don't exist in the case of nonprofit organizations. Once an organizations accepts tax-exempt status, the tax paying public becomes "owners" and "investors." See Charity & Nonprofit Board Service in Washington State - A Quick Guide, Presented by: Washington Secretary of State -- Washington State Office of the Attorney General Revised February 2012 for what this means in Washington State.
The p. 259 "communicate the strategic approach" sounds as though the strategic approach (is there a Strategic Plan?) was developed without the board's full knowledge and participation? Or as though board members were brought on without a full understanding of the Strategic Plan? Any of these is a mistake (at least for small nonprofits).
I am way outside my presumed are of expertise, but I sociologists have software to do Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) on text interviews (the qualitative half of a mixed research project). This could be a huge help in the p. 260 "membership committee interview every single board member?"
I was (see email to Keith Farrington Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 3:00 AM) reading a research proposal (see 415), related to The Washington STARS in Engineering Program that claims that this software is “commonly used to systemically analyze large bodies of text and other unstructured data that do not lend themselves to quantitative statistical analysis. These software packages provide a suite of tools that help identify and explore patterns that might be hidden in textual data, such as interview transcripts.”
The qualitative software would be something such as Atlas.ti or NVIVO. Keith Farrington reports (see email of Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 10:04 AM) that “Yes, we do use NVIVO in our department.”
p. 3. To achieve these goals, humankind must experience a new kind of evolution - not physical evolution but evolution of the mind, soul, and spirit.
Is Mr. Chopra saying that we need to change human nature?
p. 6. Eleven of the Secrets You'll Learn by reading The Generosity Network.
p. 8. In The Generosity Network, we invite you to shift from "asking for help" to exploring how all of use can work together in pursuit of a common vision using the unique resources we each have to offer.
This is very much the message of the fund raising course that I took, sometime in the past five years, at Walla Walla Community College.
p. 12. These three themes - know yourself, know others, know how to ask - are the keys to a transformational style of fund-raising.
p. 29. Instead you need to focus on providing a promise of partnership and personal growth, along with a avenue for achieving them.
p. 58. Crafting Your Public Narrative
p. 70. . . . there's an inherent tension between being an individual and being in a community.
That was an essential theme in (pre-polis) The Iliad, by Homer; not nearly so much so in (post-polis) The Argonautica, by Apollonius of Rhodes.
p. 74. Value Mentors/Minessence Group Key Values
p. 86. Learn to really listen
p. 89 - 90. One way to tell whether you are attached or committed is to ask yourself whether a particular relationship is becoming more constricted over time or more open. Are you able to talk about more things, share more ideas, experiment more freely, push each other more positively, an evoke each other's strengths more fruitfully than in the past? Or are the possibilities shrinking and dwindling over time? The latter is a sign of a dying relationship;
p. 111. Using Social Networking Tools To Turn Casual Donors Into Partners
The umbrella fund-raiser could create a simple website or Facebook page that would allow donors to pick which organization they want to support.
p. 118. Democratizing The Brand
p. 126. When you offer yourself as a connection point to many other individuals, you become a natural focus of energy for them to link to in turn.
p. 131. Painful conversations, they've found, can be a path to discovery, learning, and growth.
p. 132. Partnership: What It Is and What It Isn't
p. 143. Learning From Your Partners: Metrics as a Tool for Discovery and Growth
p. 181. But experience shows that the cause-and-effect sequence really works in the opposite direction: people give first, and then develop their commitment.
p. 183. They'll be on fire to give their money, time, talents, and energy so that they can play a supporting role in your powerful and ever-unfolding story.
Yes. As it happens I do know someone who had (probably still has) donors "on fire" to contribute. They tell precisely the stories identified on p. 184.
p. 225. Tapping The Power Of The Avatar - You Become the Other
p. 229. The front-line professionals who are doing the aid work can now become avatars for the organizations partners; people who would have been several steps removed from donors because of location can now be entirely accessible through email, blogs, Skype, and so on.
p. 232. . . . DonorsChoose.org . . . In effect, these are avatar relationships, with teachers acting . . .
p. 237. Building and Empowered, Collaborative Board - Turning an Underused Resource into a Source of Strength
p. 250. Some nonprofits, for example, have a board made up of subject-matter experts (often called the advisory board) and another with responsibility for overall management of the organization (the board of directors proper).
p. 250. Other organizations have "youth boards" made up of younger partners who can help them attract, communicate with, and address the interests of people in their twenties and thirties (as opposed to the older cohorts who generally make up the typical board).
p. 255. The best chairs devote between 15 and 20 percent of their time to the organization.
p. 256. First, set goals for board members -- and make them personalized and explicit.
p. 258. Second, involve every board member in fund raising.
p. 262. Net Profit, Inc. . . . In addition to financial backing, Kirsch and her team provide the organizations they back with research and analysis, management advice, technical support, vital networking opportunities, and other kinds of help.
p. 266. What generally moves us to action is a fundamental, emotional belief that we can truly made a difference - . . .
That was certainly my experience at The Boeing Company. I remember the days I woke up ~ 1:30 AM; realized by 2 AM that I was not going back to sleep; was at my desk by 2:30 AM to get in a few hours before going to the gym, and then worked until ~ 6 PM breathing fire every minute.
The ninety-forth book I have finished this year.
I found this one in:
The Unifying Leader
David Brooks NOV. 24, 2014
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/opinion/da...
The Avatar Strategy is new and insightful, and seems quite promising.
I disagree profoundly with the p. 243 assertion that "The fiduciary board does not represent "owners" or "investors," since these groups don't exist in the case of nonprofit organizations. Once an organizations accepts tax-exempt status, the tax paying public becomes "owners" and "investors." See Charity & Nonprofit Board Service in Washington State - A Quick Guide, Presented by: Washington Secretary of State -- Washington State Office of the Attorney General Revised February 2012 for what this means in Washington State.
The p. 259 "communicate the strategic approach" sounds as though the strategic approach (is there a Strategic Plan?) was developed without the board's full knowledge and participation? Or as though board members were brought on without a full understanding of the Strategic Plan? Any of these is a mistake (at least for small nonprofits).
I am way outside my presumed are of expertise, but I sociologists have software to do Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) on text interviews (the qualitative half of a mixed research project). This could be a huge help in the p. 260 "membership committee interview every single board member?"
I was (see email to Keith Farrington Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 3:00 AM) reading a research proposal (see 415), related to The Washington STARS in Engineering Program that claims that this software is “commonly used to systemically analyze large bodies of text and other unstructured data that do not lend themselves to quantitative statistical analysis. These software packages provide a suite of tools that help identify and explore patterns that might be hidden in textual data, such as interview transcripts.”
The qualitative software would be something such as Atlas.ti or NVIVO. Keith Farrington reports (see email of Sun, Mar 2, 2014 at 10:04 AM) that “Yes, we do use NVIVO in our department.”
p. 3. To achieve these goals, humankind must experience a new kind of evolution - not physical evolution but evolution of the mind, soul, and spirit.
Is Mr. Chopra saying that we need to change human nature?
p. 6. Eleven of the Secrets You'll Learn by reading The Generosity Network.
p. 8. In The Generosity Network, we invite you to shift from "asking for help" to exploring how all of use can work together in pursuit of a common vision using the unique resources we each have to offer.
This is very much the message of the fund raising course that I took, sometime in the past five years, at Walla Walla Community College.
p. 12. These three themes - know yourself, know others, know how to ask - are the keys to a transformational style of fund-raising.
p. 29. Instead you need to focus on providing a promise of partnership and personal growth, along with a avenue for achieving them.
p. 58. Crafting Your Public Narrative
p. 70. . . . there's an inherent tension between being an individual and being in a community.
That was an essential theme in (pre-polis) The Iliad, by Homer; not nearly so much so in (post-polis) The Argonautica, by Apollonius of Rhodes.
p. 74. Value Mentors/Minessence Group Key Values
p. 86. Learn to really listen
p. 89 - 90. One way to tell whether you are attached or committed is to ask yourself whether a particular relationship is becoming more constricted over time or more open. Are you able to talk about more things, share more ideas, experiment more freely, push each other more positively, an evoke each other's strengths more fruitfully than in the past? Or are the possibilities shrinking and dwindling over time? The latter is a sign of a dying relationship;
p. 111. Using Social Networking Tools To Turn Casual Donors Into Partners
The umbrella fund-raiser could create a simple website or Facebook page that would allow donors to pick which organization they want to support.
p. 118. Democratizing The Brand
p. 126. When you offer yourself as a connection point to many other individuals, you become a natural focus of energy for them to link to in turn.
p. 131. Painful conversations, they've found, can be a path to discovery, learning, and growth.
p. 132. Partnership: What It Is and What It Isn't
p. 143. Learning From Your Partners: Metrics as a Tool for Discovery and Growth
p. 181. But experience shows that the cause-and-effect sequence really works in the opposite direction: people give first, and then develop their commitment.
p. 183. They'll be on fire to give their money, time, talents, and energy so that they can play a supporting role in your powerful and ever-unfolding story.
Yes. As it happens I do know someone who had (probably still has) donors "on fire" to contribute. They tell precisely the stories identified on p. 184.
p. 225. Tapping The Power Of The Avatar - You Become the Other
p. 229. The front-line professionals who are doing the aid work can now become avatars for the organizations partners; people who would have been several steps removed from donors because of location can now be entirely accessible through email, blogs, Skype, and so on.
p. 232. . . . DonorsChoose.org . . . In effect, these are avatar relationships, with teachers acting . . .
p. 237. Building and Empowered, Collaborative Board - Turning an Underused Resource into a Source of Strength
p. 250. Some nonprofits, for example, have a board made up of subject-matter experts (often called the advisory board) and another with responsibility for overall management of the organization (the board of directors proper).
p. 250. Other organizations have "youth boards" made up of younger partners who can help them attract, communicate with, and address the interests of people in their twenties and thirties (as opposed to the older cohorts who generally make up the typical board).
p. 255. The best chairs devote between 15 and 20 percent of their time to the organization.
p. 256. First, set goals for board members -- and make them personalized and explicit.
p. 258. Second, involve every board member in fund raising.
p. 262. Net Profit, Inc. . . . In addition to financial backing, Kirsch and her team provide the organizations they back with research and analysis, management advice, technical support, vital networking opportunities, and other kinds of help.
p. 266. What generally moves us to action is a fundamental, emotional belief that we can truly made a difference - . . .
That was certainly my experience at The Boeing Company. I remember the days I woke up ~ 1:30 AM; realized by 2 AM that I was not going back to sleep; was at my desk by 2:30 AM to get in a few hours before going to the gym, and then worked until ~ 6 PM breathing fire every minute.
The ninety-forth book I have finished this year.
I found this one in:
The Unifying Leader
David Brooks NOV. 24, 2014
www.nytimes.com/2014/11/25/opinion/da...
October 9, 2021
If you are looking for a primer on nonprofit fundraising, this isn't a bad place to start. I've been in the field for 30+ years, and much of what is in here is what I have learned and practiced throughout my career. However, if you are looking for new ideas that fit our post-COVID, post-George Floyd reality, this will not help you. If you are trying to open up the field of fundraising so that it is more inclusive (less white), you need to look elsewhere. The only place I can direct you to at this point in my learning is the blog Nonprofit AF by the amazing Vu Le.
January 21, 2018
It’s a good book especially for those in fundrasing as it provides some insights on technicalities, your team, board engagement, the ask. However, it still has too many “fluffy” stories of friends and mates of the author who more takes out of the book rather than enriches it.
February 13, 2019
Great book on how to position messaging and fundraising asks, and how to build meaningful relationships with donors. It's really about getting to the why of the donor and matching it to the why of the organization, as well as not taking the donor for granted (or just as a bank account).
January 3, 2019
This book does a good job introducing new paradigms to view your fund-raising work, but I don't think it really delivers on actually improving your systems as a stand-alone work. I could see it being helpful in conjunction with a workshop or something. But there's just not enough realistic detail or workbook questions or something is missing. I read this and felt pretty good about implementing new ideas, the next day our Board wanted to launch a new fundraising project and it's like...the book isn't that helpful.
But I'll give the benefit of the doubt and grant this four stars because I didn't properly do the workbook questions.
But I'll give the benefit of the doubt and grant this four stars because I didn't properly do the workbook questions.
May 5, 2024
I included this book on my syllabus this past semester — before reading it. That said, it was a good decision as it offered practical tolls for how nonprofit leaders can build meaningful relationships with “partners” (the worst the author uses in lieu of donors). Rather than donation extraction, the book sets out to help nonprofit leaders deeply engage with people who have the capacity to provide significant support in myriad ways. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is involved with nonprofit organizations — not just fundraising professionals.
September 18, 2024
Great philosophy on fundraising and partnering… but it feels outdated and only relevant to a small category of nonprofits (large ones with multiple staff that have access to people with money).
They also have a focus on in-person communications which is just not possible nowadays for nonprofits doing work and with boards spread across the country and the world.
But I do like their idea of fundraising more as partnering, but many of the chapters were just not relevant to my size and structure of non-profit.
They also have a focus on in-person communications which is just not possible nowadays for nonprofits doing work and with boards spread across the country and the world.
But I do like their idea of fundraising more as partnering, but many of the chapters were just not relevant to my size and structure of non-profit.
April 5, 2025
Recommended by my colleague in fundraising. Useful for reframing my view of fundraising from transactional to transformational, and considering the importance of a strong board for non profit impact and financial health. I appreciated and would have liked more reflection on the value of bringing private sector focus on results to non profit work - not just the soft “think big, think exponentially, and then make it rain” language that IMO has removed some of the accountability & action from today’s non profit world.
July 12, 2019
This was a fantastic read! I felt like every chapter had a really awesome take-away that I could help my organization put into practice right away along with validation for the good steps we were already taking. Easy to read and full of real-life examples, this is a must read for every non-profit professional (development staff or not!).
April 26, 2021
Advice gets more insightful towards the end. The writing style of the author can be annoying at times, but who cares if the advice produces results? If I put there suggestions into practice and it produces results, I'll come back and give it a 5.
August 29, 2021
This is a must-read for everyone who is trying to raise funds for a venture. It reimagines what it is to draw people into partnership with nonprofits. I loved the storytelling aspect of their approach. I will definitely be reading this again.
October 29, 2023
This is a really great resource for fundraising of any kind. Good examples, good strategies and interesting. Did it take me 10 months to finish it? Yes, it sure did.
November 4, 2014
I find it incredibly funny that I met a real-life fundraiser the exact same day I finished this book. It's a great read, in simple language, and drives home the point that it's all about relationships and not quite so much about the money. I also liked the emphasis on "it's hard work", which it is. Great tips on how to apply theory to real life - I think I'll be flicking through this book time and time again. Just wish I'd bought a hard copy...
October 24, 2016
Fabulous start - describes fundraising as building strong, individual relationships and offering individuals the opportunity to use philanthropy as a means of approaching their goals. Then it goes quickly into a blah, blah, blah typical fundraising book.
"Don't ever drop names" ... but it has at least one example on every page about how well connected the writers are and how fabulous everyone they know is.
Glad I read it, though, because of the first couple of chapters.
"Don't ever drop names" ... but it has at least one example on every page about how well connected the writers are and how fabulous everyone they know is.
Glad I read it, though, because of the first couple of chapters.
June 27, 2014
Full of great advice and food for thought. Didn't give it 5 stars only because I found it tough to get into at the beginning - the writing felt a bit clunky with too many references to other people's experiences, rather than speaking from their own. Having said that, this will be added to my bookshelf as a good reference source.
February 19, 2017
The passion for fundraising and relationship-building that the authors share shines through this book. I appreciated much of the paradigm-shifting perspectives they detail about the work of fundraisers, and the book had less "fluff" than other professional development-type books. If you're in nonprofit fundraising or advocacy, I recommend it!
February 5, 2015
An insightful look at what makes people give of their time and/or money. Considering the topic is not that compelling, unless you're in fundraising, the book was an easy read that really held my attention.
September 17, 2014
A refreshing take on nonprofit management books. I really enjoyed it and it gave me some great ideas!
August 24, 2016
This is one of the best fundraising books I have read.
October 26, 2016
Good ideas for how to think about fund raising differently.
Read
July 3, 2018excellent for developing networking skills and understanding the nuances of creating a thriving nonprofit
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews