Fundraising for Dummies

"Fundraising for Dummies" will not give you a Masters degree in Non-profit Management, but it does contain EXTREMELY valuable and assorted information all under one cover that used to take quite a bit of research and pavement pounding to track down. Save that pavement pounding and learn what types of fundraising are going to work the best for you, and how best to employ them. Like the title states, this book is geared for folks who may not have any previous experience with fundraising, or may need a refresher on old standbys and new avenues. There are many avenues available to organizations now, and this book breaks each down for its strengths and weaknesses, as well as how to employ them, many of which many folks may not have even considered to be viable. Everything from bake sales to preparing for and writing grant proposals, as well as everything in the middle, can be found in the chapters of "Fundraising for Dummies". Whether you are looking to buy new little league uniforms, set-up an online donation portal for a local community center, or are pursuing grants for a national level non-profit, this book can substantially help you understand where to start, how to evaluate which forms of fundraising will work best for you, what leg-work needs to be done before you can hit the ground running, how to gauge what aspects your team can handle and what aspects you may need to hire a prefessional to handle, fundraising ethics, and what follow-up you need to do AFTER the fundraising to keep donors "writing checks" for long term endeavors. The writing style is straight forward, accessible and quite enjoyable, without talking over/down-to the reader. A very worthwhile investment for the return-potential!

This is a great book on fundraising because it doesn't intimidate you with terminology or complicated schemes. It presents the subject in very practical, bite-sized nuggets which, not only are extremely helpful and insightful, but has also actually succeeded in getting me excited about getting out there and doing the job!

I am just starting my first job as a fund development director, and this book is a terrific step-by-step reference. I've been reading lots of stuff, and this is the best. The authors know fundraising on both sides--as fund raisers and funders. The book is readable,interesting and full of specifics, "case studies," and references (with helpful contact information--addresses, etc.). I would think even "old hands" in fundraising would learn a thing or two.I highly recommend it.

I have been in the fundraising world for several years, and found this book to very insightful - and helpful. I recommend it for board and staff members of non profits. The layout is great for referencing. I have already used the book in some very practical ways, getting rid of some old habits. A great gift to new board memebers, and a desk reference for the professional.

I recently purchased Fundraising For Dummies. I and a friend are just beginning to look into fundraising. This book was an enormous help. It offered something we really needed-practical, down to earth advice on how to actually go about fundraising. This was great because many of the books I had read before were more about the philosophy behind fundraising or just a particular aspect of it. I feel that anyone interested in fundraising would benefit from this book. As a novice in this field, I found it particularly helpful and will use it as a reference for quite some time.