News and Blog
Taking Control of Your Fundraising: The Power of Feasibility-Based Goals
How nice would it be to set a fundraising dollar goal that you had confidence in? Around now, many programs are developing goals for the coming fiscal year. I’ll be the first to say that fundraisers are a fundamentally optimistic community by nature – it’s part of...
So Many Reasons Not to Give
It’s amazing that we raise as much money as we do, given the many reasons why people should not give. Read on to see the very special solicitation letter I created for my first April post.
“It’s Not You, It’s Me”
Seinfeld character George Costanza claimed to have coined the phrase “It’s not you, it’s me.” He found that it came in handy when explaining why he wanted to break up with the person he was dating, hoping to make it easier on the soon-to-be ex by putting the blame...
Keeping the “Fun” in “Fundraising”
Provides a link to a Spotify playlist of annual giving-themed tunes.
Gifts for Today and Tomorrow–Annual and Planned Giving
At first glance, Annual Giving and Planned Giving may appear to be polar opposites. Annual Gifts are for immediate use, can (and do) come in all sizes, and are often pooled together with the gifts from other community members to maximize their impact. Planned Gifts...
Playing at Philanthropy in Animal Crossing
The holiday gift-giving season is here, and video games have made the wish lists of many. Nintendo has been having a great year, driven in large part by the popularity of the game “Animal Crossing: New Horizons” or ACNH. Sales of the game, released in March, have...
Ten Tips to Get the Right Reports, Part 2
Sorry to make you wait for tips six through ten, but it seemed almost fitting, given that getting reports (especially the right reports) often involves some patience. In our first five tips, we focused on work that needs to happen before you even get to...
Ten Tips to Get the Right Reports
Getting a new report to evaluate and manage your Advancement efforts can be quite challenging. Because programming resources are scarce and emergency needs take priority, receiving a report is often preceded by a long wait in a queue. So, before your request finally...
Tammie Ruda Joins West Wind Consulting as Senior Consultant
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nationally recognized fundraiser brings broad advancement experience to clients Ithaca, New York West Wind Consulting Strategies in Fund Raising LLC is pleased to announce that Tammie L. Ruda has joined the firm as a Senior Consultant. She will...
Seeing You–Not ‘Donors Like You’
When I was a preschooler, I watched a morning TV show called “Romper Room.” Designed to mimic older siblings’ and friends’ classroom experiences, the show was hosted by a warm and welcoming teacher who varied by geographic region. (I think Miss Barbara was my Romper...