LinkedIn Learning

In fundraising, building relationships is an art form. You need a pragmatic mindset and ample preparation to succeed at identifying, approaching, and cultivating donor relationships. In this course, the Fundraising Academy teaches you how to prospect, manage prospect information, prepare for your first meeting with a potential donor, make a lasting first impression, and more. First, learn prospecting techniques, from securing leads to crowdfunding. Next, explore tactics to optimize the visibility of your organization’s professional social media presence to garner gifts. Uncover ways to conduct phone calls successfully and manage events to build excitement around your organization’s cause. Finally, review examples of discovery conversations and ways to improve your listening skills. Developing long-lasting and committed donors takes time, and every step along the way is important toward making a successful ask.

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Relationships are part of our daily lives, and focusing on them is a proven method for successful communication. To raise funds successfully, you need to aim for long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships. This starts by understanding the exponential growth of the nonprofit world’s impact on donors. This course from Fundraising Academy explains how donor’s mindsets have changed with the development of watchdog organizations. Learn to embrace your selling persona and improve prospective and donor relationships with the Cause Selling Cycle. Explore ways to remain ethical in the gray areas, as well as the time management, organizational, and communication skills that you will need as prospective donors decide to partner with you and your cause.

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Fundraisers are an integral part of building a nonprofit organization. Your organization’s values, mission, and services don’t sell themselves. That’s why successful fundraisers must build, manage, and maintain strong relationships with their donors. In this course, learn how to leverage Cause Selling to open doors for your organization. Find out how to use this relationship-driven fundraising model to identify and acquire prospective donors, construct an effective presentation that highlights your organization, handle objections, and make a successful ask. Dive into donor giving motivations and learn how to build lasting relationships with your donors to ensure the success of your organization for years to come.

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Hearing no is a part of any negotiation, but if you can distinguish the difference between a hard no and a stalling tactic, it will help you reach your fundraising goals. In this course, the Fundraising Academy walks you through valuable insights on navigating the level of interest that a prospective donor demonstrates when they present objections, excuses, and questions. This course coaches you through a common technique for handling frustrations and helps you to identify the importance of timing as you help potential donors to make a decision. After this course, you won’t be unsettled by donor objections, but instead will be able to see them as an opportunity for raising funds for your cause.

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Successful fundraising depends on a fundraiser’s ability to communicate knowledge about the organization effectively to current and prospective donors. In this course, the Fundraising Academy at National University offers you a wide variety of tips to incorporate into your fundraising presentation, including how to leverage technology and analyze data to develop a plan that will motivate your donors to invest. Dive into the six pillars of fundraising and how to use these pillars to set and achieve ambitious goals for your organization. Learn about the difference between your organization’s mission and positioning statement, and then explore how to focus on the future goals of your organization and incorporate those goals into your presentation.

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