Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge (Bill Connors)

Bobby Steurer

Hi all,


A colleague recommended Bill Connors' Fundraising with The Raiser's Edge book to me. I wanted to check in and see if anyone in the Community had read it. If so, what did you think? It seems the only available version is the 1st edition from 2010 - wondering if there's anything comparable and a little more up-to-date.

https://www.amazon.com/Fundraising-Raisers-Edge-Non-Technical-Guide-dp-0470560568/dp/0470560568/ref=mt_paperback?_encoding=UTF8&me=&qid=1572883509 


Let me know your thoughts if you've had a go with this one! 


Thanks!


 

Milly Whittington 2

I read Bill's book several years ago and still go back to it as a reference for best practices in the database view of RE (or as I like to call it, "The Dark Side').  It's such a small price to pay for the benefit of all of Bill's RE consulting..


 

Bobby Steurer

Milly Whittington:

I read Bill's book several years ago and still go back to it as a reference for best practices in the database view of RE (or as I like to call it, "The Dark Side').  It's such a small price to pay for the benefit of all of Bill's RE consulting..


 

Big thanks for your response, Milly Whittington‍ . "The Dark Side" - hehe! I like that.

Bill Connors

Hi, Bobby, Bill Connors here.    Thanks for asking about the book.  To answer your questions:  I know of no other third-party publication on RE, only BB's resources and perhaps white papers and YouTube videos and the like.  I know of no other books.  The first edition is the only one that exists.  I have not written a new one for RE NXT or updated the original one because RE 7 wasn't changing for years and then all of a sudden in 2015 we have RE NXT and it's changing every week or two, too frequently to try to write or update a book about it.  My sense is that with the database view still being a very important part of the RE NXT experience, and the book being more conceptual than "buttonology," a good 80-90% of the book is still applicable today.  Hope it's helpful to you if you get it.  Thanks!

Crystal Bruce

Discussion moved to Raiser's Edge forums to broaden audience. Thanks!

Karen Diener 2

It is definitely worth a read, and a great resource to have in your toolkit.  Even with 20+ years of RE experience, I still refer to it to re-emphasize the strategic and efficient way to use RE.  It helps me most when working with clients to re-introduce them to the software (since many never had formal training, or those who were trained are long gone) and also when working with them to write redefine and write policies.  Still the most realistic guide to Best Practices that I've seen.


Karen