More about surviving the recession

From the recent AFP conference, a summary of what some of the speakers said about surviving the recession (as reported in the Chronicle of Philanthropy at Focusing on What Works: Veteran Fund-Raising Consultants Offer Their Ideas).

Among the ingredients given for success:

• Focusing on the mission, not the dollars that need to be raised.
• Understanding which fund-raising efforts are productive and which are not.
• Thanking donors.
• Listening to supporters.
• Asking donors to give now.
• Proving to donors what their money will do.

Things that can lead to failure in a bad economy:

• Cutting programs across the board.
• Using the economy as an excuse to sit back.
• Going negative.

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