CLOUDBURST: a rainmaker's guide to FEARLESS FUNDRAISING and exceptional DONOR STEWARDSHIP

 
Competition for funding is fierce! 
You and more than a million charities are duking it out for a limited pool of funding. Without funding, your mission will flounder. You must raise money. Failure is not an option. That's enough pressure to make anyone anxious about fundraising.

Whatever your role, whatever your experience, and whatever the reason you're helping raise money for your nonprofit, Cloudburst gives you the tools you need and the mindset required to improve your skills to wisely and fearlessly ask for money in face-to-face settings.

The book has no stuffy theory. It's conversational and PRACTICAL! Cloudburst offers dozens of tactics and examples to help you learn the subtleties of asking for money and overcoming objections.
But just as important as getting checks is, you'll learn the art of cultivating donors before they give, and stewarding donors after they give, allowing you to transform one-time givers into loyal and involved donors who are thrilled to support you year after year.

Tom Iselin (1961-) was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and his Midwestern values of being neighborly and giving back continue to shape his life, work, and writing. 
 
After a near-death experience, Tom left the world of stock options trading on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, washed away his selfish lifestyle, and became a social entrepreneur with a mission of helping nonprofits become thriving, high-impact, gold standard nonprofits. 
 
Tom went on to start or help build nine sector leading nonprofits, including The Hunger Coalition, Natural High, The Environmental News Network, and Higher Ground, one of the nation's largest and most innovative nonprofits that rehabilitates wounded warriors.
 
Part of Tom's success in building high-performance nonprofits was his uncanny ability to raise money. Known as "The Rainmaker," Tom's secret to raising money was building relationships with donors and then asking them for money in face-to-face settings. 
 
He's written six books, sits on a number of boards, and hosts a video blog and podcast. Each year, Tom speaks to more than 5,000 nonprofit leaders at conferences across the country. He is considered a leading authority on high-performance nonprofits, and his impact on the industry has been featured on CNN, Nightline, and in Newsweek.
 
Tom won the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award in Idaho in 2006, and is rated one of America's best and most popular board retreat and strategic planning facilitators. He is the president of First Things First, a business specializing in board retreats, strategic planning, fundraising, and executive coaching. 
 
Tom lives in the mountain town of Sun Valley, Idaho. To relax, he loves mountain biking, hiking, camping, skiing, fly fishing, tennis, cooking, and baking.