Fundraising Growth Now‪!‬ Bob Swaney, RSC Founder and Chief Strategy Officer

I like clever sayings, fun saying and sayings that help me remember to be focused and effective. So today, and out of several dozen such sayings, I’m going share ten of my favorites – most of which I use regularly. I thought it might be fun to describe the saying, tell you where I heard it and what it means to me, especially when applied to fundraising in the arts. I hope you like these, too, and find some value and application in hearing them.

There are numerous reasons why fundraising staff and volunteers won’t ask a prospect for support without a lot of feet-dragging. Whether it’s for annual giving, a major gift or a planned gift, hesitation often seems more comfortable than taking action.

This episode addresses the causes for delays in asking for support, and what you and your team can do to get out of your comfort zone and instead, 'err on the side of asking'.

Sometimes arts and cultural organizations treat their board like artificial intelligence, as if every board member should be all-knowledgeable and flawlessly responsive bots to answer questions, reveal solutions and be ready, willing and able to advance the herculean tasks to advance our arts organization. However, they should make themselves available only when we decide they are needed. It’s ok to treat A.I. this way, but don’t treat board members like this.

This episode explores activating the board from the viewpoint of the board member, and what your arts organization can do to better encourage and equip your board to be part of a productive fundraising program.

We explore a pain point for most any arts organization: hiring fundraising staff. There are too many jobs for too few qualified professionals in the arts, and the expectations for staff to produce are always high. This episode outlines some of the top challenges faced by arts and cultural organizations when hiring fundraising staff, followed by the five truly ineffective yet commonly used recruitment techniques, and finishing with a handful of “best of” hiring practices that may help during your next search.

This episode delves into the relationship between the marketing and fundraising efforts in a performing arts organization. No matter the size, ticket sales and fundraising priorities are sometimes viewed as “in conflict”, with the patron put in the middle. We'll aim to eliminate the internal competition, and instead, make sales and giving come together in complimentary fashion.

This Episode addresses a crucial aspect of sustaining arts and cultural organizations -- expanding our annual fund donor base. In this ever evolving landscape it's essential to grow the donor base to meet the challenges and the opportunities associated within the arts, but it's also becoming increasingly difficult.