December 4, 2008 | Read Time: 1 minute
Penelope Burk, fund-raising consultant and author of Donor-Centered Fundraising, is starting a new blog that will cover fund raising amid economic turmoil.
In Burk’s Blog, Ms. Burk says she will feature “comments, research results, advice, and encouragement on a weekly basis — or more often if warranted.” She also plans a January survey to examine whether and how donors intend to give throughout 2009.
Ms. Burk’s first posting, which went live on Tuesday, offers what some might call counterintuitive advice to the growing number of fund raisers worried about declining contributions. Many are now issuing emergency appeals about increasing demands on their organizations and the need for donors to step up their giving.
“As your anxiety level rises, you may be putting a lot of thought into how to express your ask in an even more urgent tone,” Ms. Burk writes. “If so, you’re making a mistake.”
Instead, she continues, “now is the time to tell your donors that you will be able to keep going forward, not if your donors give in the future but because they have stood by you in the past.”
She advises fund raisers to express concern about donors’ own financial wellbeing and to reassure them that, regardless of the economy, the organization will continue to do the best of its ability. “Now is the time to tell your donors that you’re thinking of them, that you know they’re hurting, and that you hope they will be okay,” she writes.
Do you agree with Ms. Burk’s advice?
