The Raising of Money: 35 Essentials Trustees Are Using to Make a Difference

For every board member (or staff member) of a nonprofit organization who feels overwhelmed by the noise, anxiety, and competition around fundraising today ... and is eager for the power that comes with finally finding the right guidance. You can make a real difference in your community and in the world. You can change the headlines in the news ... maybe even shape the course of history. But first you have to know how to unleash human energy, including the energy contained in money. This book shows you the way.

This is what I wrote when we first published this book . . .

"I'm so enthused about this "little gem" (that's how one leader in the field described it), that I want to get it into the hands of as many trustees and volunteers as I can."

I guess we succeeded. A few years back, "The Raising of Money" became the all-time bestselling book in the world on fund raising.

And it continues to maintain that distinction, with more than 250,000 readers.

It's also still the only book that distills the most important ideas – the essence – of fund raising and presents them in such a concise and useful format. It's like a checklist. The core of fund raising's key ideas are delivered each in a few hundred words. The brevity was a strategic decision. Jim Lord wanted to make sure that he would hold the attention of the busy board member and other volunteers.

People tell us they easily digest the contents on a coast-to-coast flight. Others rave more than I dare: We often hear it called "my bible of fund raising."

It's also being used as a desk-top reference for the professional, including the organization's CEO. We're told that pros give the book to volunteers as a gift or as homework, either way it does their work for them: It gives them a quick grasp of work works in fund raising and what doesn't. It is designed to add weight and credibility to the ideas that the most successful development executives emphasize to their volunteers.

Wendy Franklin
Publisher
Third Sector Press