by Eddie Thompson | Aug 20, 2013 | Donor Communications
I have spent my whole career working as a fundraiser. I never really thought about doing anything else, and my dad is the one responsible for that. In fact, every lesson about giving that really matters, I learned from him. It’s kind of a bittersweet story. By the...
by Eddie Thompson | Aug 5, 2013 | Charitable Estate Planning, Donor Communications
In a previous blog I wrote about a process to help donors work their way through their three big gift planning questions: how much will they need for the remainder of their lives; how much should they give to their children; and, how much should they give to...
by Eddie Thompson | May 30, 2013 | Donor Communications
It thrills and amazes me to witness individuals go through transformations with regard to their giving. Those transformations don’t happen that often, or that easily. Some might say (paraphrasing the Gospel of Mark), “It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a...
by Eddie Thompson | May 8, 2013 | Donor Communications
No matter how masterful you are with facts and figures about your organization’s effectiveness, to move people to make institutional changing contributions you have to become a masterful storyteller. The right story to the right donor can make the difference between a...
by Eddie Thompson | Mar 21, 2013 | Donor Communications
I was put into a situation early in my fundraising career that became an unforgettable example of the power of a story to influence people and move them to action. As a development representative for David Lipscomb University, the Vice President assigned me the...
by Eddie Thompson | Feb 28, 2013 | Development Management, Donor Communications
In the last article I began describing the twelve characteristics of the most successful nonprofit organizations, which was based on my dissertation research at Vanderbilt University. The first six characteristics related to personal communications and the depth of...
