Column A

• Folks in our city are always talking about our organization’s cool, imaginative fund raising projects when they gather around their office water coolers.
• We regularly get calls from other charities who want us to teach them fund raising because our materials and projects are so high profile, successful, fun, and unique.
• My friends, family, and best donors love to get all our fund raising pieces and are always hitting me up for extra copies to give to their friends and family.
• Our fund raising materials are like a snapshot of our organization’s heart, purpose, and calling.

Column B

• People in our own organization don’t read our appeal letters and newsletters.
• Our fund raising program is a lot like what other organizations like ours are doing.
• I make sure my friends, family, and best donors don’t get hit up by most of our fund raising solicitations, since I don’t want them to get turned off by us asking them for money all the time.
• Our fund raising materials are a necessary evil to make money to run our organization.

The Moral Of The Story, Part I:

• Good marketing and fund raising make you WANT to talk about fund raising.  If your fund raising is no fun for you, or if you have to grit your teeth and just do it (or, worse yet, apologize to your close friends for it) as a necessary evil, then you’re doing it wrong.

The Moral Of The Story, Part II:

• If your fund raising is no fun for your donors, you’re doing it wrong, too.