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Rating: 
Summary: Thanks for the help!!
Review: A colleague recommended this book to me when I announced my intention to fund an after school program for kids. I was both intimidated and secretly doubtful of my abilities to pull something like this off (but it was my dream!) This fine little gem of a book offered me a game plan, opened my eyes to the possibilities of achieving the kind of success I had only dreamed of, reinforced ideas I had of my own (but were unclear of), and the end results were that it REALLY worked. This was not the only book I purchased, of course. But BY FAR the best. It was easy to read and very focused (Thank god!!!!!!) Many of the other books went off on tangents and were written in a language that was difficult for a first timer like me to understand. Oh, so many thanks as we complete our first successful year here in Sausalito!
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Summary: Finally A Breakthrough
Review: I read a lot of books on fundraising as it is my business and has been for many years. This particular book is not one I would recommend especially in light of the little new material embodied here. What the authors have done is taken the most obvious, and sometimes even silly, elements of any fundraiser's life and posed them as revelations. In reality there is little new here. Not much to be learned even by the development neophyte. I was left wondering how a book like this could ever have been published as it is all so very obvious to even, I suspect, the average person. What you will not find as a professional is anything new here. What you will not find as a novice is any sort of information that will lead to some amazing change in your organization's fundraising ability. In the end the proof is in the pudding (as they say) and the pudding was made of a single fundraiser and a motivational speaker collaborating on a little book I can only hope will re-sell for me on the used market. I can not recommend the book. choose almost any other Amazon fundraising listing and you will go miles further.
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Summary: Fabulous Fundraising Resource!!!!
Review: I wish that this book was available when I started in Development 10 years ago. My sometimes painful experiences in Major Gift Solicitation highlight that the authors know what they are talking about. The best advice that anyone attempting to fundraise can hear is explained beautifully in this book: develop and nurture significant personal relationships with your donors. This advice really works. For example, my wife and I adopted our son as a result of the personal recommendation of a major donor-turned-close-friend. People (and people within foundations) give to people. The key to success in raising money is to be viewed as a resource and friend, rather than one of the hundreds of development officers who call an executive's office over the course of a year. Buy a copy for yourself and one for all of those in leadership positions within the organization. Then put it into practice!
Rating:
Summary: The Best Fundraising Book Yet!
Review: It's got to be the best book yet written on fundraising. The SHIFT they're talking about is the SHIFT that changes a life of scraping and struggling into a virtual heaven of support. Beneath the simplicity and drama of this book is the most sophisticated relationship science I've ever seen outlined, with plenty of specific examples to back it up. A true precision structure for the ultimate networking skill.
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Summary: Fundraising psychology
Review: Many fundraising books overlook the psychological aspects of "giving" and "receiving." Bassoff's work helpfully reinforces the conviction that a nonprofit must itself "give" and contribute in order to receive "gifts" and contributions. The writing style was enjoyable, with content to match.
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Summary: MAJOR GIFTS come ONLY from this VIEWPOINT
Review: This wonderful book was underlined and highlighted so many times I couldn't read it anymore.....I had to start fresh and buy a new one. Of all the books on fund raising I've ever read, including MegaGifts, this book is the one that really shows you how to do it, and how to change yourself and your whole approach so that you can attract major gifts. When I gave this book out at a staff retreat, my people had read it by the second day and wanted to devote the third and final day to just this book. Our major gifts now account for more than 2/3 of our revenue, and our days are spent building relationships instead of fund raising. Our annual goal was passed in six months after that retreat! This book returns the joy to fund raising because it teaches you how to communicate with donors and donor prospects in a way that both parties enjoy and look forward to.
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