Before you send a single email or stuff a single envelope, reach out to donors—by phone or email—and announce your campaign is coming.

This one act can boost your response rate up to five times higher. If you actually reach a donor and they feel connected to your cause, half of them will give. Do it well, and that number can soar 70%. Incredible.

But skip the notification and rely only on a generic appeal letter or email? Expect a limp response rate of just 1–3%. Maybe 5% if you're lucky. (It's like brewing coffee without heating the water—you'll still get something brown, but nobody's drinking it.)

Listen in and Learn!

Let's be honest: most nonprofits don't need another event. They need better ones. The kind that doesn't drain staff, exhaust volunteers, or leave donors wondering why they just spent two hours listening to speeches when they could have been home in slippers. That's where specialty events come in.

Savvy fundraisers love specialty events—typically gatherings of 10 to 75 people—because they create something you simply can't replicate at a big gala. Donors see friends they respect, meet peers they admire, and experience your mission together. There's energy in the room. Momentum. A subtle but unmistakable sense that this is something worth being part of.

Listen in and Learn!

Experienced fundraisers know objections are part of the ask process, which is why they embrace them. There are dozens of reasons why donors throw caution signs that feel like red lights.

What follows is a high-level primer that unpacks why donors hesitate, paired with clear principles for handling those objections with confidence—so you can turn tough questions into lasting commitments.

Listen in and learn!

Cultivation is the golden hour before the ask. It's when you introduce someone to your nonprofit, show them the heart behind the stats, the faces behind the facts, and the mission behind the jargon.

And it isn't just about raising money—it's about raising friends, champions, connectors, and believers. Done well, cultivation deepens emotional connection, builds trust, and turns a casual observer into a loyal supporter. Done poorly, it feels like a used car sales pitch on a rainy afternoon. 

Listen in and learn!

As fundraisers, we know that while individual giving dominates, finding the right foundation, corporate, or government grant can give your budget a real boost. Many of these funding sources make large, multiyear commitments, and for some nonprofits, these sources of funding are their only sources of funding.

And while unlocking these sources of funding can rain down large sums of money, they can also create a lot of wasted time and rejection letters. What follows is a set of tactics you can use to increase the probability of securing funds from these sources and to do it in a manner that is worth your time and effort. Listen in and learn . . .

In the highly competitive world of nonprofit fundraising, standing out is more than just having a great mission—it's about creating memorable experiences that leave lasting impressions. One of the most overlooked yet powerful ways to do this is through friendliness and unexpected gestures of appreciation.

People like to do business with people they like, trust, and know. If donors, vendors, and partners consistently have unexpectedly pleasurable interactions with a nonprofit's board members and staff, they will not only stay engaged but also become loyal advocates.

But what does "unexpectedly pleasurable" mean? How can an organization become friendlier? What are some practical applications of these things? Why are these concepts game-changers for organizations that implement them? Listen in to learn more . . .

In today's rapidly evolving nonprofit landscape, executive directors and board members face an on onslaught of challenges—from dwindling funding sources to rapidly shifting community needs. More than ever, a mindset that embraces continuous learning, bold innovation, and courageous teamwork is essential.

I recently read Carol Dweck's bestselling book called "Mindset." Her groundbreaking work on mindsets is the inspiration for this podcast which explores how nonprofits can break free from the constraints of a "fixed mindset" and adopt a "growth mindset" that propels sustained success, greater impact, and enhanced organizational resilience. 

Listen and enjoy!

Encouraging donors to increase their contributions is a delicate endeavor.

This podcast explores several practical and effective tactics to achieve the balance needed to inspire donors to give more generously while maintaining their trust and enthusiasm without alienating or pressuring them.

Tune in now!

Did you know that 53% of donors stop giving because they feel unappreciated, and 41% cite lack of acknowledgment or thanks as their reason? Conversely, loyal donors give 42% more over their lifetime and are 70% more likely to leave a planned gift. These numbers underscore the critical need for nonprofits to build and implement a robust stewardship plan. Without it, donors can feel like transactional cash machines rather than valued partners in your mission.

Effective stewardship isn't just about saying thank you; it's about cultivating meaningful, genuine relationships. When done right, regular donor touchpoints can strengthen connections without becoming intrusive. This requires tailoring the frequency and type of communication you do for each donor level, whether it's a donor who gives $25, or one giving $50,000.

In the podcast, you'll learn about five stewardship tactics that can transform your donor relationships to create more loyal donors who are excited to give at incrementally higher levels over a longer period of time, no matter what their current giving level.

If you're tired of your board meddling in the daily operations of your nonprofit . . . this podcast is for you!

Nonprofit boards play a critical role in guiding the organizations they serve, helping steer decisions, ensuring fiscal health, and offering strategic oversight. However, one glaring issue that's often swept under the rug is the lack of prompt responses to communications from executive directors and staff.

Emails and important requests from staff frequently go unanswered or receive delayed responses from board members. This behavior, while common, is not only disrespectful but also sends a clear and damaging message to the very people who keep the organization running day in and day out.

Staff members work tirelessly, often way beyond regular business hours and sometimes on weekends and holidays, sacrificing personal time and energy for the cause. When their emails are met with silence, it signals that their time, effort, and contributions aren't valued and appreciated. And worse yet, that they aren't valued and appreciated.

Board members are in positions of authority, and their actions—or lack thereof—can have lasting consequences on staff morale, organizational efficiency, and overall culture. It's time to address this problem head-on. Nonprofit executives may not always feel empowered to confront this issue, but they shouldn't have to. Rather, it's the board's responsibility to hold its members accountable for this type of behavior.

Listen in and learn why board members should respond promptly to staff communications, and three steps they can take to ensure they do so . . .

Plan Early for a Stress-Free, High-Impact Session

Planning a strategic session for your nonprofit can be one of the most impactful moments of the year—a chance to reset, strategize, and inspire your team. But let's be honest: waiting until the last minute to plan such an important event can lead to unnecessary stress, limited options, and a lackluster experience.

On the flip side, planning early opens doors to creativity, thoughtful preparation, and the opportunity to create a transformative experience for everyone involved. This podcast explores  explore why planning early is not just a good idea but a game-changer.

And if you're ready to commit to early planning, I provide some actionable steps to set yourself up for success. So grab a latte and listen in . . .

Every nonprofit eventually hits a moment of polite stagnation. Board meetings are full, calendars are packed, and everyone is working hard—but progress feels heavier than it should. Conversations repeat themselves. Decisions take longer. Direction becomes unclear. Passion wilts. The organization isn't broken, but it isn't quite clicking either.

That's usually when someone finally says what everyone else is thinking: "We should probably do a board retreat." Or, "Maybe it's time for a planning session." The idea hangs in the air for a moment, feels responsible and hopeful, and then gets quietly shut down with a familiar phrase: "We just don't have the budget for that right now."

That sentence sounds practical. It feels disciplined. And most of the time, it's the wrong conclusion.

Listen and Learn!

Have you ever sat through a board retreat and thought, "What a waste of time!" You're squished in a windowless room, squirming in a chair that feels like granite, and longing for the next break. Worse yet, the facilitator is boring, the content is useless, board members are texting, and the food is stale!

If you're in the process of planning a retreat, don't settle! It's possible to put together an amazing day that's engaging, meaningful, memorable, and fun. All it takes is a little planning and ingenuity.

Listen in to the following checklist to make sure you have all the essential elements in place to ensure the retreat is a resounding success.

In the world of nonprofit fundraising, meeting with a donor for coffee (or any in-person meeting), whether they are a potential supporter or a current contributor, is one of the most crucial interactions you'll have.

This isn't just a casual coffee chat; it's a pivotal meeting that can define a donor's impression of you, your organization, and may determine whether they make moderate gift, a significant one, or none at all. The stakes are high and coming prepared can greatly increase the likelihood you'll leave with a smile and the outcome you desired.

To learn more about how to raise money in face-to-face settings, listen in!

In today's rapidly changing world, clinging to the traditional five-year strategic plan is not just outdated—it's impractical. Organizations need to adapt quickly to survive, and a long-term plan often becomes a liability and burden rather than a guide and roadmap. Instead, a one-year strategic plan, monitored monthly and updated annually, proves to be a far more effective and cost-efficient approach to planning.

To learn more, listen in!

The nonprofit world is a quirky one. Many nonprofits are founded by passionate people with little or no nonprofit experience. Many board members have little or no nonprofit experi­ence, and many staff members have little or no nonprofit or business experience.

The result is often a lot of wasted time and effort. Mistakes are made, resources are poorly allocated, and problems are ignored. People get involved and things get done, but no one is sure what should be done, how it should be done, or who should be responsible to do what.

A nonprofit can avoid many of these common pitfalls by building a "value network." A value network is nothing more than a network of people, organizations, and resources that can help a non­profit run more efficiently and effectively—and build capacity—by providing information, knowledge, skills, experience, influence, and money.

This podcast will help your board and team build its value network and increase the organization's impact along the way.

Here's a list of 7 uncommon factors to look for!

Strategic planning is the backbone of any successful nonprofit organization, providing a roadmap for future growth and impact. However, navigating the strategic planning process can be challenging, requiring skilled guidance to ensure clarity, collaboration, and actionable outcomes.

When seeking to hire the best strategic planning facilitator for your nonprofit, there are several key factors to consider. Here are seven essential (but uncommon) considerations for CEOs and Board Chairs to keep in mind when searching "Near Me" for the best facilitator to lead their strategic planning sessions.

Let's be honest

Do you have board members that . . . Blow off meetings? Don't read meeting materials? Don't make a personal donation? Are nowhere to be found to help organize events? Can't recite the mission or vision? Don't help steward donors? Rarely see your programming? Don't personally know the staff? Say they're "just volunteers" or "too busy" to participate? Couldn't share any institutional knowledge to save their life? Believe that the ED and staff are getting paid so they should do all the work?

Well, if we had the courage, here's what we'd like to say to the slackers on our boards:

"Your absence and lack of involvement are completely unacceptable and are a liability and disgrace to this board. If you cannot commit to full participation immediately, you need to resign."

"The board's effectiveness is compromised by inactive members. Your inaction speaks louder than words. Either step up and fulfill your obligations or step aside so we can bring in members who will actively support our mission."

Hosting a strategic planning session can be costly and time-consuming. You can spend hours and hours trying to find a suitable venue, hire caterers, organize pre-work, and wrangle all the attendees. But often times, the biggest cost is the one you spend on hiring the facilitator.

Then, the big day arrives. Everyone is prepared and excited to roll up their sleeves, grapple with pressing issues, and create a roadmap for the future. They have high expectations the day will be a huge success and that the facilitator will be outstanding.

But when the day turns out to be a huge belly flop because the facilitator was a huge dud that wasted everyone's time and the organization's money, it can make the organization be wary of ever hiring another facilitator.

Therefore, when hiring a strategic planning facilitator, it's crucial to be cautious and thorough to avoid falling victim to ineffective facilitators who overpromise and underdeliver. Listen in to these ten things to look out for the next time you're scouting for a facilitator:

Next Level Donor Relations – Make Their Experience "Unexpectedly Pleasurable!" 

In today's fundraising world, with dozens of nonprofits competing for donors' hearts and wallets, it's important to stand out and differentiate. Otherwise, no matter how noble your mission, you'll be left with your hand out as other fundraisers hit their goals.

To inspire donor generosity and loyalty year after year, you must stop sending stale thank-you letters and having hollow donor experiences, and start thinking of creative ways to go above and beyond to provide donor service and experiences that are "unexpectedly" pleasurable and memorable.

Listen in to hear 16 uncommon and practical donor relations tactics that will delight and surprise your donors.

Are You a One-Percenter? Here's a List of Dos and Don'ts of Top Performers. How do you rate?

There is a reason why the top performers – the One-Percenters – consistently do so well in business and life . . . it's because they do the things, big and small, that set themselves apart from others.

There is nothing wrong with "average." Average is good. It's acceptable. Do you feel you're an average worker? Are you better than average? How much better?

Would you like to be a One-Percenter? Do you want to be the type of person who gets frequent promotions and big raises? Do you dream of starting and running your own business or nonprofit? Do you want to be liked and respected by people around you, yet viewed as humble, gracious, and generous?

If you want to be a One-Percenter, or have the desire to improve your performance in the workplace, then commit yourself to learning and applying the following principles. If you do, you'll find yourself in an elite group of leaders who make a difference.

Listen in to hear a list of 17 Dos and 10 Don'ts that define One-Percenters. 

Movies and Sound

Imagine watching a movie like Star Wars, Jaws, or Top Gun with no sound. They would be dry, listless, and yes, dull. In many movies, the sound makes the movie. It elicits emotional responses that can lift us up, make us cry, and give us goosebumps. Some music scores are so meaningful to us, they stir up emotions and memories decades after watching the movies. Think of movies like "The Sound of Music," "Titanic," and "The Good, Bad, and the Ugly."

As a fundraiser, I recently came to heightened realization just how important sound is in our efforts to raise money. When reading a brochure or an appeal letter, there is no sound; it's like watching a silent movie. The emotional power of the stories and information is weak. Yes, writing powerful and compelling stories can emotionally inspire donors, but not as well as telling those stories out loud.

Give Me Goosebumps

Telling stories and sharing information out loud—in person—brings stories alive. Imagine reading a scene from Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, or the shower scene in Hitchcock's Psycho versus watching those scenes with sound. Reading the scenes may elicit an emotional response, but watching these movie scenes and hearing the sound effects, music scores, and people's voices can transport our thoughts and emotions to unimaginable places.

The sounds in movies ignite all areas of our brains. The tone of a Darth Vader's voice or the whizzing of Starfighter causes our brains to start pumping out dopamine, adrenaline, and a host of other chemical reactions that move us, compel us, and emotionally connect us. The same happens when we watch powerful videos with sound.

This is why it's important to tell your stories colorfully when talking with donors and giving talks about your organization and the work you do. To do this, we need to use descriptive words that paint vivid pictures, tell touching stories, and vary your tone, pitch, and cadence of your speech.

Tune in to learn more

Fear not! To raise money, you and your fellow board members don't have to cold call strangers (or worse, friends), or suffer through awkward donor coffees where you feel like the people at the table next to you are eavesdropping on your shaky pitch.

Nope. There's an alternative. It's a heck of a lot easier for board members to do things that support the fundraising efforts of the organization, rather than do something terrifying they loathe. Below is a list of 21 things board members with no fundraising experience can do to support the fundraising efforts of the organizations they care so much about.

And for those board members who love to ask for money, give them a list of people to call and meet, and let them work their magic. For everyone else, have them choose a few things from the list below. Their contributions will lower the work burden of the fundraising staff and provide valuable resources and impact that will ultimately help raise more money.

Listen in and learn!

Have you ever sat through a board retreat and thought, "What a waste of time!" You're squished in a windowless room, squirming in a chair that feels like granite, and longing for the next break. Worse yet, the facilitator is boring, the content is useless, board members are texting, and the food is stale!

If you're in the process of planning a retreat, don't settle! It's possible to put together an amazing day that's engaging, meaningful, memorable, and fun. All it takes is a little planning and ingenuity.

Listen in and use the following checklist to make sure you have all the essential elements in place to ensure the retreat is a resounding success.

Have you ever sat through a board retreat and spent more time watching the clock, daydreaming, and checking texts than listening to the facilitator? Are your board members cringing at the thought of attending another retreat?

Did your last facilitator stand behind a lectern and drone on like a record playing in slow motion? Were they unengaging? Was the content dull and irrelevant? Did the outcomes of the day grow stale and ultimately have little impact on your board?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, it's time to find a new facilitator. But how do you choose? Listen in to this checklist of attributes you can use when scouting for the "best" board retreat facilitator.

Nonprofits play a critical role in addressing societal issues, but their effectiveness often hinges on the strength of their leadership, especially the board.

One way to enhance the performance of a nonprofit's board of directors is by organizing retreats. They can improve engagement, performance, governance, fundraising skills, all of which can propel the organization to the next level of impact.

This is all the more reason to hire a high-quality retreat facilitator. And though you may feel it's risky to hire a facilitator from outside your region, it may also be a game-changer. Sure, it's nice to keep things local, but sometimes you get what you pay for . . . which, in some cases, can mean mediocre results.

Retreats and planning sessions are too important to skimp on. Listen in and learn seven compelling reasons why you should consider looking beyond your region or state when searching for your next retreat facilitator.

Fundraising—it's part charm offensive, part emotional trapeze act, part caffeine-fueled chaos. Some days you feel like a philanthropic superhero, and other days you're crying into your donor database while searching for the 'undo' button. But you don't have to go it alone. Enter the Rainmakers: the mythical, magical, magnificently strategic fundraisers who know how to play the long game—with flair.

What's their secret? These 10 fundraising principles. We're talking about donor stickiness, connection asks, custom everything, and enough 'You' language to make even Shakespeare blush. Strap in, folks. You're about to take a rollercoaster ride through fundraising best practices—Robin Williams style.

Listen and learn . . .

Your first face-to-face meeting with a donor isn't a sales pitch or interview. And it's definitely not the time to comb through the details for your 30-page strategic plan. It's a discovery conversation—a delightful dance where you listen, learn, and laugh.

Apply the following 10 tactics to get your first meeting right and the odds of landing a second meeting (and ultimately a donation) jump to more than 70%. Not bad for the cost of a latte and scone.

Listen in and learn . . .

First Things First and Tom Iselin. This audio clip provides a brief overview of our services, experience, credibility, and fees.

For more detailed information, visit www.tomiselin.com, or call 858.888.2278. 

With gratitude, 

Tom~