Look! Up in the Sky!

It’s a bird! It’s a plane!  No, it’s Carol Weisman’s fantastic new book, Fundraising Superheroes!

Aimed at short-on-time board members, Carol offers hundreds of tips on how to more effectively raise funds for your organization.  These ideas are presented in short, digestible, one page articles  accompanied by colorful and humorous illustrations.

Best of all, many of her pointers are immediately actionable.  You can open up to almost any page and, by the end of the day, have added some new piece to your fundraising puzzle.  Others, such as an event which needs to be planned or the setting up of a system to track donor’s gifts, may take slightly longer, but are presented in a simple way and “can-do” attitude, which might be exactly what you need to push you into action.

The superhero theme, humorous writing style, and colorful illustrations make the reading fun.  You may just find yourself turning off the television to read about organizational fundraising!  Gasp!  As Carol puts it, “Because of the general fear and anxiety many folks experience with fundraising, I’ve tried to make this book user-friendly and reassuring.”  She has definitely succeeded.

Carol’s years of serving on boards (32 total, 7 as president) and working as a speaker, author, trainer and consultant who specializes in volunteerism, fundraising and governance, gives her the knowledge and experience necessary to help guide you during this troubled economic period.  (She’s also a faculty member with Energize’s online training program, Everyone Ready^®.)

Red Cape Optional.

By Tristan Dahn

Interested in other books by Carol?  Here’s a link to her page at the Energize Bookstore: http://www.energizeinc.com/store/Au-Wei.  To learn more about her work as well as to purchase your own copy of Fundraising Superheroes, go to http://www.carolweisman.com/.

Don’t Just “Whack and Plaque” Retiring Board Members– Have an Event to Honor Them

Excerpted from Fundraising Superheroes by Carol Weisman, 2009 F.E. Robbins & Sons

When board members of long and distinguished service retire, have a luncheon or dinner to honor them. Charge a bunch. Speak about what they have done for the organization and how you plan to build on the foundation they’ve laid.

Introduce them to the current generation of organizational leaders who are carrying on the work that the retired board members started. Let the retirees know that you hope they will want to continue making a difference in the future of the organization through their ongoing contributions.

You will have a mission-focused event that will inspire other board and community leaders.