When my daughter was in second grade, I spoke to her class about my work as a fundraiser on career day. Based on her introduction of me, she had her own take on my job: “My mom says hi a lot at work. ‘Hi … hi … hi!’” I was fascinated and, later, asked her ..read more

I was probably 13-years old when I first heard the song on the radio, I Need Love, by LL Cool J. I liked the beat and melody, but I did not, initially, pay much attention to the words. It was not until I heard some guys in my class rap the lyrics that I felt compelled ..read more

Harvesters is a food bank for the Kansas City region—a large warehouse-transportation distribution center for partners who provide food to those they serve. Before the pandemic, we’d been used to addressing natural disasters. Groups would rally to areas, so we had practice with that, but we had never faced a combination economic, health and education ..read more

When a major fundraising campaign begins, one of the first tasks is to find leaders who can take on the tremendous challenge of seeing it through to the end. The question around the table is: Who will find this cause worthy enough to volunteer, knowing there will be challenges, frustrations and disappointments—along with the unbelievable ..read more

Early in my fundraising career, I directed a mid-size university’s regular giving program. It was the first time I developed and managed the regular giving budget and determined the best use of those funds. I decided I would invest heavily in a fall appeal geared toward our most loyal donors. Since we were asking our ..read more

Early in my career, I was a planned giving representative for a large religious and social service organization. During a presentation I was giving, a woman shared with me that she was going to include the nonprofit in her will. It was great news. Later, I searched our donor records and discovered that in the ..read more

Several years ago, I was working with an organization to help shore up their organizational development operation. While conducting a review of board giving, I came across a member who had given the same gift for 15 years. It wasn’t substantial, but it was consistent and large enough to catch my attention. What was unusual was ..read more

Norma Murphy1942 – 2021 The entire Hartsook team was deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our dear colleague, Norma Murphy. Norma worked as a Hartsook consultant for nearly 30 years and retired in 2020 as executive vice president. Prior to that, she was the vice president of development for the Cerebral Palsy Research ..read more

For more than 30 years, I’ve had the privilege of leading and participating in the mission-planning efforts of many nonprofits as a volunteer, donor, board member and, in some instances, as a fundraiser and professional consultant. Embedded in those organizations’ planning efforts is an important key to philanthropy: personal stories. Whether it is the story ..read more