A Summer reading list for fundraisers, by fundraisers
Howard Lake | 3 August 2016 | Blogs
Nothing epitomises Summer more than relaxing, engrossed in a good book. So we’ve put together a list of summer reads for fundraisers – ones to inspire us, awaken ideas and feelings, and teach even the most knowledgeable of us, something new.
See how many of these you can get through over the Summer period and feel free to share some of your must-reads in the comments.
Tuesdays with Morrie – Mitch Albom
This isn’t a book about fundraising or charity, it’s one about people, and one that I believe everyone should read at least once in their lifetime. I’ve recommended it endless times to family and friends, and my copy is heavily annotated, underlined and dog-eared – not one you throw back on the bookshelf, but one you read again and again. It teaches us the importance of our mentors, the people we build strong relationships with and the ones who truly ‘get us’.
It teaches us a lot in the way of real-time, real-life social science, and the whole story (yes, even though it may bring a tear to your eye at parts) brings us through Morrie’s final ‘class’: lessons in how to live.
As fundraisers, it teaches us what we already know, but can so easily lose track of – people are real, and the impact we can have on those around us is greater than we know. If you want to finish a book feeling inspired, this is the one for you.
Tuesdays with Morrie
Mitch Albom
Abundance: the future is better than you think – Peter H. Diamandis & Steven Kotler
Every time I turn on my computer or TV, I’m subjected to news that makes me believe the world must be getting worse, it seems as though every headline I hear or read is negative. But, as Diamandis and Kotler so exquisitely prove in this book, it’s not all getting worse, instead when we study the trends, the situation is better than we give it credit for; extreme poverty has reduced, healthcare around the world is improving and technological capability is growing at such an exponential rate that it is helping us create more jobs than we’re losing.
Throughout the book they break the list of basic human needs down into categories, and through a large amount of real life stories we are introduced to the innovators who are determined to push forward in these areas. For the research-minded among us there is a huge reference section at the back of the book, complete with graphs, graphics and charts that back up each of their conclusions.
Read ‘Abundance’ for motivation, read it to feel overwhelmed by the extreme good in the world, and read it to remind yourself that as a Fundraiser you do have the power to, even on a small scale, change the world and help provide abundance for all.
Abundance: the future is better than you think
Peter H Diamandis & Steven Kotler
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Bounce: The myth of talent – Matthew Syed
By Ben Swart, Head of New Partnerships, NSPCC
If you are about to embark on improving a skill in your fundraising practice, or you’re simply passionate about development then read this book. You won’t regret it.
Matthew Syed, an ex-Olympic Champion, is fascinated by how we develop, especially as the small town in which he grew up, a town with nearly no history of sporting success, seemed to create a host of UK and Olympic champions overnight. He becomes obsessed with how footballers, athletes, tennis stars, chess masters and musicians become the best in the world, leading to some unexpected results that blow apart our current thoughts on talent and development.
I love this book, not only for the stories of how people like David Beckham, Mozart, Venus Williams, Tiger Woods and many others learned their trade. But because he goes deep into the science and psychology behind it, referencing Malcolm Gladwell, Anders Erikkson and a host of others. He details story after story – really breaking down how we too can become the very best at what we do, replicating these steps and improving nearly any skill.
Bounce: the myth of talent and the power of practice
Matthew Syed
Switch: How to change things when change is hard – Chip & Dan Heath
By Ben Swart, Head of New Partnerships, NSPCC
Fundraising is about influencing people to do something differently, something they weren’t planning on and/or to change their behaviour.
Chip and Dan (two brothers obsessed with marketing, psychology and behavioural economics) hunt out the most successful examples of behavioural and organisational change to see if there is a pattern. They find one and spend the next few hundred pages beautifully helping you to understand and implement this pattern. Packed full of inspiring stories and anecdotes, including examples from international development, marriage counselling, business bottom line and many more, you’ll find it an entertaining read.
Influencing someone to change their behaviour or actions is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do – yet, within the first few minutes of reading this book your brain will come alive with ideas and opportunities to help you get your point across. Use this to create workshops, to build pitches, make proposals, plan project visits – I have lost count of the number of times I’ve used the book.
Perhaps even more useful is the volume of resources on their heathbrothers.com website to support you in implementing any change.
Switch: how to change things when change is hard
Chip Heath & Dan Heath
Made to Stick – Chip & Dan Heath
As fundraisers, we communicate with our donors on a daily basis, and we need them to both understand and remember our single most important message. If you want to ensure that your message and story ‘sticks’ with your donors, which let’s be honest we all do, then this is the book for you. If you don’t take it from me, then take it from the list of awards this book has picked up over the years, and deservedly so – it will become one you return to year after year.
After reading ‘Made to Stick’, the way you both think of and approach communicating your ideas will be totally transformed. As they say themselves “Well, this is a nurture book”, and that it is. You’ll learn about what makes some ideas more effective than others, why some ideas stay around for ever whilst others have absolutely no hope of reaching their audience, and through reading the ins and outs of the many success stories (& failures), you’ll become a pro at nurturing your own ideas and adapting your key messages, using a few simple rules which will make them ‘stick’ within the mind of your target audience.
Made to Stick
Chip Heath and Dan Heath
Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant: How Small Gifts Can Become Powerful Tools to Support any Organisation – Erica Waasdorp
We are all aware that monthly giving is a vital part of charity, but do we always remember just how vital it is? After all, long-term supporters sustain our charitable activities through an on-going series of dedicated and consistent donations, ones we can usually rely on. For this reason I find this book a powerful read for all fundraisers, as it helps us re-focus our mind on the importance of monthly giving.
Erica Waasdorp shares real life examples from charities all over the world, covering both ‘new’ and ‘old’ communication techniques (email, face-to- face, direct mail, text, the list goes on), and explains how small gifts can become the most effective tool in supporting your organisation. She tackles the myth that monthly giving campaigns are arduous, expensive and time-consuming to set up, and instead focuses on how to easily start, and develop our monthly giving programs. One of the most vital lessons we learn from Erica is that by investing a little time into getting to know our monthly donors, we can turn our campaigns into resounding success stories. Have this book at hand if you’re interested in finding out what has and hasn’t worked for other charities, and in turn explore what might work for yours.
Monthly Giving. The Sleeping Giant
Erica Waasdorp
Social Media for Social Good: A How-to Guide for Nonprofits – Heather Mansfield
89% of the UK population, a mind-boggling 57 million people, are active Internet users today. I know you’ll agree that if social media has the power to influence this sheer amount of people, as fundraisers we need to be on the ball and know everything about it!
Yes, we all know the general benefits of social media, but this books delves far into the subject and proves itself as the must-have tool for any charity focused on using their social media platform(s) to achieve “social good”.
Mansfield outlines a step-by-step ‘how to guide’, walking us through the process of setting up our social media strategy from scratch; she advises on how much time and money we should invest in each activity, allowing us to begin this process with a ballpark figure in mind.
The world of social media changes rapidly & so to keep completely up-to- date, Mansfield has even penned a list of must read updates so we never get out of the loop.
Social Media for Social Good
Heather Mansfield
The Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications: Real-World, Field-Tested Strategies for Raising More Money – Jeff Brooks
We speak to our donors all the time, be it on the phone, direct mail, email, via social media etc., but are we speaking to them in the right way?
Are we motivating them? Are we making them intrigued in what we do? Are we making them passionate about our charities work? Are we making them want to continue giving?
In this book you learn how to do all of this and more. Brooks has compiled a short read packed full of advice, ideas and real-life examples all based on tested and proven donor behaviour – what donors do, not what donors say.
As Fundraisers, his book gives us the opportunity to communicate with increased knowledge, ensuring that we treat each and every mailing as an opportunity to speak with our donors, not falling into the common trap of ineffective communication. He tells us about the importance of urgency, being donor-centric, being corny, using stories not statistics, and teaches us how to write this all simply – after all, our donors shouldn’t have difficulty in understanding our messages.
The Fundraiser’s Guide to Irresistible Communications
Jeff Brooks
About Laura Hewitt
Laura Hewitt organised her first fundraising event at the age of 12 and her passion for fundraising has continued ever since. She is now a Fundraiser at Stroke Association in Northern Ireland, having previously worked with Cancer Research UK as a Regional Marketing Intern across the Race for Life series. She was a speaker at July’s IOF Conference in London, chosen as one of nine ‘Rising Stars’ in the industry.
Contact her through Twitter, LinkedIn or via email.
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.