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Nonprofit Hero: Five Easy Steps to Successful Board Fundraising
Nonprofit Hero is written by Valerie Jones, who has raised more than $175 million for nonprofits and coached thousands of people to authentically and successfully ask for the causes they care about. She’s addressed more than 50 audiences from Baltimore to Beijing and is one of fewer than 10,000 Certified Fund-Raising Executives (CFREs) worldwide. In addition to running her boutique consulting firm, Valerie M. Jones Associates (VMJA), she’s volunteered extensively, serving nonprofits as president, chair, board member, and committee member.
Her method works. Trained boards report increased comfort and willingness to ask. Many indicate they are prepared to ask for bigger gifts, can identify more prospective donors, and intend to contact these prospects sooner. Her book, Nonprofit Hero, contains stories, tools, and exercises not included in trainings. Readers will learn how This book also helps readers form an in-depth description of their asking personality. It illustrates how they can best thank, steward, research, cultivate, and ask; which of the five steps they favor; how to address their fears; play to their strengths; overcome their weaknesses; and how to get what they need to excel. There are 16 different and distinct profiles, one suited to each reader.
Finally, this book includes a toolkit of practical samples and templates, such as sample giving dos and don’ts, asking scripts, and fundraising plans.
Her method works. Trained boards report increased comfort and willingness to ask. Many indicate they are prepared to ask for bigger gifts, can identify more prospective donors, and intend to contact these prospects sooner. Her book, Nonprofit Hero, contains stories, tools, and exercises not included in trainings. Readers will learn how This book also helps readers form an in-depth description of their asking personality. It illustrates how they can best thank, steward, research, cultivate, and ask; which of the five steps they favor; how to address their fears; play to their strengths; overcome their weaknesses; and how to get what they need to excel. There are 16 different and distinct profiles, one suited to each reader.
Finally, this book includes a toolkit of practical samples and templates, such as sample giving dos and don’ts, asking scripts, and fundraising plans.
192 pages, Hardcover
Published November 16, 2018
7 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 2, 2022
Nonprofit Hero is versatile. It teaches you to reframe fundraising so that it works for you, and gives everything about it a positive twist in the process. Unsure where to start? Valerie Jones lays it all out for you and even provides a different plan for each of the 16 personality types to show that you can play to your strengths while fundraising, no matter what they are. At times I found the format a little confusing, but overall Nonprofit Hero is a highly readable book. It breaks everything down into stories, lists and activities that are concrete and helpful. This is a great book for anyone who wants to raise money for any cause, because it not only shows you how to not hate it, but also to do it thoughtfully and graciously.
January 15, 2019
Val Jones condenses a career's worth of experience and advice into a quick and fun read that's a must-have for anyone interested or involved in fundraising. She offers insightful advice that should be taken to heart by volunteers and fundraising professionals alike (advice that often goes beyond the industry and simply exemplifies what it means to be a good person!) Val breaks down fundraising to the bare bones and gets to the core of what it means to ask. She describes, through personal experience, how to identify potential prospects, cultivate donor relationships, and ultimately answers the question: How do I raise money for the causes that are important to me?
January 3, 2019
Valerie Jones turns a board member’s nightmare into an enjoyable process that builds confidence and expertise. Not only are the five steps actually “easy”, but the element of personalization and care she takes in developing her method makes Nonprofit Hero a remarkably effective guide on an individual level. She exemplifies each lesson with entertaining and meaningful anecdotes that stay with you long after you finish reading. A delightful read and effective guide, Nonprofit Hero is a must-read for those who want to make a difference in their nonprofit.
January 17, 2022
Nice to learn about the different "types" of people. You can find free similar versions of Myers-Briggs tests online and take on to find your personality/personalities. Great to learn about the diversity type of askers and diverse types of givers. Know how a person needs to ask and how a potential giver needs to be asked.
This is a good book.
This is a good book.
March 13, 2020
I saw this book in its infancy. I saw the talks and forms that lead up to it. I heard the stories that went into it.
It never gets old. This book is a gold standard by which informative how-to nonfiction should be measured. There is wisdom and there is heart here. Only negative I would say is the Meyers Briggs section wears thin, but it more than makes up for that in other areas.
It never gets old. This book is a gold standard by which informative how-to nonfiction should be measured. There is wisdom and there is heart here. Only negative I would say is the Meyers Briggs section wears thin, but it more than makes up for that in other areas.
November 22, 2018
I have been involved with a very small, educational nonprofit in Guatemala for many years. I have been successful with fundraising but there are always tips or aspects that one may forget over time. I do have to admit it took me a while to warm up to the book. The first third read like an infomercial. For someone not comfortable with the "ask" or is new to a nonprofit board, this is a good reference book. There is a lot of good information given in a few pages, which can be overwhelming. My suggestion is to read it and then go back and slowly digest its contents. If the reader is not knowledgeable about Myers-Briggs, it would benefit him/her to read an overview about it. It is good to know about in one's everyday life.
Thank you NetGalley for a prerelease copy of Nonprofit Hero.
Thank you NetGalley for a prerelease copy of Nonprofit Hero.
kindle
November 25, 2018The author gave easy to follow advice on how to be more successful when fundraising for non-profits. This guide was very informative.
January 16, 2019
The insights and action steps from this book will be a game changer for you and your causes. And your friends and their causes. And their friends and their causes. Because an enjoyable and quick-to-read book as packed with valuable, actionable resources as Nonprofit Hero needs to be enthusiastically shared.
As someone who has worked in the field of nonprofit fundraising for more than a decade, I read this to evaluate its usefulness for sharing with individuals in my network who are struggling with their volunteer fundraising roles. I ended up getting a ton out of this book, because as it turns out, it’s not only a tremendously helpful resource for volunteers and board members, but for staff-level and consultant fundraisers as well.
Valerie Jones brings to her book Nonprofit Hero a rare harmony of extensive expertise and an engaging written voice. Throughout the book it feels like you’re receiving insider advice from a great friend (a super savvy and on point friend).
I was really impressed with how otherwise complicated and intimidating topics were broken down into easy-to-digest material that felt exciting and empowering to read. This book doesn’t just teach you the fundamentals of being an effective volunteer fundraiser, it taps into your unique talents and personality to ignite you into action. It’s a resource that pays immediate and long term dividends by also including a huge array of sample materials that are solid gold.
This is definitely a book I will recommend to individuals looking to elevate their impact for the causes they serve, and, to nonprofits to distribute to each of their board members!
As someone who has worked in the field of nonprofit fundraising for more than a decade, I read this to evaluate its usefulness for sharing with individuals in my network who are struggling with their volunteer fundraising roles. I ended up getting a ton out of this book, because as it turns out, it’s not only a tremendously helpful resource for volunteers and board members, but for staff-level and consultant fundraisers as well.
Valerie Jones brings to her book Nonprofit Hero a rare harmony of extensive expertise and an engaging written voice. Throughout the book it feels like you’re receiving insider advice from a great friend (a super savvy and on point friend).
I was really impressed with how otherwise complicated and intimidating topics were broken down into easy-to-digest material that felt exciting and empowering to read. This book doesn’t just teach you the fundamentals of being an effective volunteer fundraiser, it taps into your unique talents and personality to ignite you into action. It’s a resource that pays immediate and long term dividends by also including a huge array of sample materials that are solid gold.
This is definitely a book I will recommend to individuals looking to elevate their impact for the causes they serve, and, to nonprofits to distribute to each of their board members!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews