Nick has written a practical, helpful, and, yes, fun-to-read book on surviving the complex calamity of diminishing donor numbers, clogged acquisition channels and diminishing retention.

It’s titled: The New Nonprofit: Six Models to Raise More Money and Accomplish More Mission.  It’s just been released and is ready for your order!

I’ve read the book four times now in its various draft iterations. And learned more each time. And I thought I was already on top of the subject.

Clearly, this book is a labor of love drawing on a delicious mixture of his decades-long practical experience, ten years of DonorVoice pilot projects and research, and Nick’s seemingly bottomless trove of pop culture and humor.

Fun, fast-moving and eminently practical The New Nonprofit incorporates Nick’s years of experience as a fundraiser (first as head of marketing for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and now as VP for Marketing Strategy for DonorVoice).

What comes through most poignantly is Nick’s passion about fundraising … and more specifically, his passion about helping all of us succeed at fundraising in a tumultuous, fast-changing climate.

Make no mistake. There are more and more difficult days ahead for fundraisers.  In the words of Yogi Berra, “The future ain’t what it used to be,” with a decline in the number of donors, over-crowded and less productive acquisition channels, and a tsunami of donors heading for the exits each year.

Fundraisers must choose one of two divergent paths.

Some will choose, in the words of one fundraising executive, “to manage the decline”. This mindset is founded on acceptance of the status quo—tweaking around the edges, working to increase efficiency, and accepting lower returns. The result?  Nonprofit donor numbers will plummet by half over the next decade. This will lead to widespread collapse of nonprofits or gilded philanthropy by, for, and of wealthy donors.

Other fundraisers, (the type of folks The Agitator prefers to hang with), will rage against the dying of the light—then do something about it. They understand that decline is not inevitable. We can save broad-based philanthropic support. But we must change our thinking.

That’s where Nick’s book comes in.

The New Nonprofit: Six Models to Raise More Money and Accomplish More Mission goes through six Agitator/DonorVoice-tested ways to change your business models in small and large ways.  He covers case studies of nonprofits that are succeeding in today’s environment and ways you can do likewise.  And he does it with the sense of humor you’ve come to expect in Nick’s Agitator posts.

The New Nonprofit looks at six potential models for growth:

• The Permission-based Nonprofit that grows from a consensual relationship between organization and donors.
• The Preferred Nonprofit that grows from a deeper knowledge of and relationship with donors.
• The Media Organization Nonprofit that grows by attracting and keeping supporters with relevant content.
• The Donor-directed Nonprofit that grows by giving donors more control over what their gift accomplishes.
• The Starfish Nonprofit that grows by creating leaders at all levels of the organization and empowering them to accomplish great things.
• The Conglomerate Nonprofit that grows by embracing mergers, acquisitions, alliances, and incubating new ideas.

As Nick writes:

“Any of the old, business-as-usual assumptions, if changed, could positively and productively alter the way we fundraise. In these pages, you’ll see examples of organizations that have successfully dipped their toes into these waters, as I hope you will do. You will learn from those already swimming and those still on the beach.

“More than anything, I want to convince you that change is necessary. From there, we can then agree that in today’s turbulence that the safest path isn’t the well-worn road.”

I urge you to order Nick’s book today. You’ll see case studies of success and failures and get tips for evolutionary and revolutionary change. Most of all, you’ll hear a call for the urgent need to revitalize nonprofits to save the vital work we do in the world.

To give you a flavor of The New Nonprofit, you and other Agitator readers can download my Foreword to the book and Nick’s Introduction. Then, I hope you’ll join me in getting your copy here.

Roger

P.S.  OK, so Nick’s my co-conspirator in The Agitator and of course I’m positively prejudiced since I see his mind at work every day.  But don’t take my word for it.  As you decide whether to order The New Nonprofit consider what these folks have to say:

Dr. Adrian Sargeant, author of The Psychology of Philanthropy, Building Donor Loyalty, Fundraising Principles and Practices, and many others

“Guaranteed to have you crying into your coffee (or beer!) Ellinger charts how things have gone so horribly wrong for fundraising. The donor pool is contracting, donor lifetimes are shrinking, satisfaction rates are low and public trust is stubbornly stuck at pre-2001 levels. But mercifully it isn’t all doom and gloom. Ellinger rightly takes us to task but he confidently explains how lessons from psychology and neurology can be used to add radically more value for supporters and drive genuine commitment to the organizations they support. A sobering read but with eminently practical solutions!”

Ken Burnett, author of the classic Relationship Fundraising and other works.

“A few lines from The New Nonprofit explain why it’s so needed. 

‘More nonprofits exist than ever before, with more coming… Unnamed, faceless, cold, sparse, biting, relentless, gnawing winter is coming for nonprofits…not all will survive. It’s time for serious fundraisers to chart a course from the Old World of Fundraising to a New World.’

“This book was written to show you the way to that New World. Pay it heed.”

Shannon McCracken, CEO, The Nonprofit Alliance

“Whatever is on your to-do list for this afternoon, scratch it off and read The New Nonprofit instead — and then rewrite your to-do list with better ideas. With just the right blend of case studies, industry insight, and wry humor, Nicholas Ellinger has crafted a must-read for every nonprofit fundraiser.”

Gail Perry, author of Fired-Up Fundraising

“Whether you are looking for revolutionary change or evolutionary change, The New Nonprofit gives you the data and the case studies you need to change your organization’s thinking. Don’t miss this groundbreaking book!”