If you know much about me you are aware that I founded i5 Fundraising. The focus on the five i’s is intentional. It’s a way of helping to raise awareness that fundraising, which can seem complex to some, can be understood and practiced successfully by focusing on five i’s.
- Identify – Donors with an interest in your cause or particular nonprofit.
- Inform – Yourself about those donors so that when you inform them about your work you share information that is of interest to them.
- Involve – Donors in the life of your organization.
- Invest – Ask donors to contribute to your nonprofit.
- Impact – Share stories with donors about the impact that their gifts have on the lives of those you serve.
Recently I shared thoughts with my newsletter audience about a sixth “i” — intentionality.
Many who have read my work are aware that I penned an e-book titled Fundraisers Channeling Fred Rogers. One point that I did not expand on a great deal was the fact that nothing on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood was left to chance.
Fred’s friend Maxwell King is the former head of the Pittsburgh Foundation and knew Fred well. In the biography that he wrote about Fred, Mr. King notes that Mr. Rogers didn’t ad-lib — far from it!
The amiable Mr. Rogers acted with intentionality, he planned every show and scene; he was even known to agonize over a specific word. Fred sometimes stopped in the middle of filming a scene to run down the street to seek guidance from his mentor regarding the wording of the script.
Would you like to read the rest of the article? You can subscribe to my newsletter or drop me a message with your email address and I’ll send the article to you.
Whether or not you write to me I pose these questions and hope to hear your thoughts:
- Which of the five i’s are you currently focusing on?
- How can you act with intentionality to employ that” i” for the benefit of your nonprofit?
I look forward to hearing from you because we can all learn from one another.
Leave a Reply