The Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards: A 59-minute Guide to Ensuring Your Organization’s Future: Jerold Panas
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Review
“Help your board develop habits that will lead to superb results in fundraising. Read this book.” — Dr. Thomas Dillon, President, Thomas Aquinas College
“No-nonsense information that trustees need to know and act on if they want impact are of the highest caliber.” — Kolia O’Connor, Head of School, Sewickley Academy
In an artful, compelling, and inspiring manner, Panas provides the essence of what we need for board and staff development.” — Bob Ecklund, President & CEO, YMCA of Tacoma-Pierce County
“A large part of virtue consists in good habits,” said William Paley.
In his new book, The Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards, Jerold Panas would rephrase that a tad: A large part of an organization’s success depends on its board’s willingness to cultivate certain behaviors.
Over the course of a storied career, Panas has worked with literally thousands of boards, from those governing the toniest of prep schools to those spearheading the local Y. He has counseled floundering groups; he has been the wind beneath the wings of boards whose organizations have soared.
In fact, it’s a safe bet that Panas has observed more boards at work than perhaps anyone in America, all the while helping them to surpass their campaign goals of $100,000 to $100 million.
Funnel every ounce of that experience and wisdom into a single book and what you have is The Fundraising Habits of Supremely Successful Boards, the brilliant culmination of what Panas has learned firsthand about boards who excel at the task of resource development.
Anyone who has read Asking or any of Panas’ other books knows his style – a breezy and irresistible mix of storytelling, exhortation, and inspiration.
Habits follows the same engaging mold, offering a panoply of habits any board would be wise to cultivate. Some are specific, with measurable outcomes. Others are more intangible, with Panas seeking to impart an attitude of success.
Here’s just a sampling:
• You don’t allow a mission deficit. • You never lose sight that your organization is in the business of changing lives or saving lives. • You’re willing to leave the comfort zone. • You understand that not all gifts are worth accepting.
In all, there are 25 habits and each is explored in two- and three-page chapters … and all of them animated by real-life stories only this grandmaster of philanthropy can tell.
In a mere 117 pages, about an hour’s read, Jerold Panas has accomplished two feats. He has produced a book that boards will find simultaneously ennobling and instructive. And he has relegated to the recycling bin dozens upon dozens of ponderous and inauthentic treatises on the subject of nonprofit boards and fundraising.
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