Development.  Advancement.  Or just plain fundraising.  

Writing to help raise money isn’t just grant proposals.  It’s lots more.  (Those of you who are trying to do it all in a small nonprofit know how much more!)

But after 15 years of writing fundraising materials, I have discovered that the writer’s art and the fundraiser’s art can be mutually exclusive.  Writers like to sit alone and scribble.  Fundraisers like to listen to folks, chat with them, make them feel comfortable.  Which one are you? 
Okay, I do know people who can do it all, like my friends George, Jessica, and Jim.  (You can tell by the alliteration that I didn’t make those names up—they’re real people!) But even they are happy to hire a writer so that they can spend more time with their donors.

A writer who understands fundraising will also serve as your fundraising consultant.  He or she will realize the need to connect with an audience without spending – or seeming to spend – a fortune.  A good fundraising writer will also understand the development process: the strategies, the language,  the need for consensus, and the need for donors to approve what is written about them.

Whatever you call it -- development, advancement, or fundraising -- get a writer who understands your art.

Coming soon:  “Eight Areas for a Communications Plan for Fundraising”