Relationship Fundraising

by Ken Burnett

A DONOR-BASED APPROACH TO THE BUSINESS OF RAISING MONEY

Genres: Business, Professional Development, Nonfiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1993

Reviews

[Vince · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for people new to fundraising — probably 1-2 years experience or less. Not very useful for more experienced development professionals. The overarching message: raising money is an art, not a science, and depends on building real, meaningful relationships with donors. Building real, meaningful relationships with donors requires creating value for them and inviting them to be partners in realizing a shared vision. Creating value and building partnership takes time, and success does not happen overnight. Practice good blocking and tackling: acknowledge every gift in timely fashion, give donors opportunities to provide real, critical feedback, invest in a good donor database that is run on a set of best practices, only produce and distribute thoughtful/challenging communications (don't spam your donors), and keep learning.

[Courtney Villa]

Outdated. Which is fair given when it was published.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably was useful for beginners 20 years ago. The marketing chapter today is a joke. If anybody has recs on modern books on development that they enjoyed, I’m begging you please, SHARE!!

[ddri · Rating 4 out of 5]

For all the fashions and technology trends that flooded an industry desperate to take ownership of the "next big trend" since the innovations of the F2F fundraising model, the fundamentals remain the path to success. And no more so than a post-GFC era where the lifecycle of donor development is critical to organisations only too aware that a reliance on a single source of exposure (corporate donors, anyone?) is far too risky to both their own bottom line, and their mission.

Ken Burnett's book is a staple library item for any NGO or related consultancy. Read once and revisit often. Buy for your team, and keep on hand for your own career or understanding of an incredibly important sector.

[Telly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I probably would have enjoyed this book more if I were new to nonprofit fundraising, or if I was not so well read in fundraising techniques, especially relationship-based fundraising. However, I did go into this hoping to get a fresh perspective. I did not. It's really hard to find something of this nature that adds value after having read The Incredible Journey, one of the most informative and view changing books I've read on fundraising.

[Charles Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book isn't that old (2002), but most of the ideas have been incorporated into modern development practice. So it really just affirmed what I already knew. Which isn't terrible, but also not revelatory. I'm looking for revelation, dammit!

[Malcolm Sproull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Based on the principles of relationship sales and marketing but spun for the non-profit sector. Very solid teaching and insights. I highly recommend it.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Undergraduate degree required reading