87 Books Like Asking Styles

The Little Book of Boards provides a concise and easy-to-read overview of what are the responsibilities of a board member. It provides an excellent overview of the fiduciary responsibilities of the board and then the further responsibilities of someone who takes a leadership position. The appendices provide helpful guidance. When I was researching the nonprofit books out there for board members in preparation for writing mine, I found this one to be practical and well-written. Some books were too detailed but this one provided enough context for someone new to a board position. 

This book builds on the information provided by The Little Book of Boards by going into more details into the nitty gritty. This book addresses the legal responsibilities of the board risk management and ethics. It also has a chapter on financial statements and internal controls. Each chapter provides just enough details that the reader can start to get a great understanding of the big picture of a board member’s responsibilities. The book closes with a focus on change management and useful case studies to get the reader thinking about their responsibilities for the nonprofit organization. I’d definitely recommend reading this after the Little Book of Boards to continue to grow the knowledge base without getting overwhelmed.

The Nonprofit Board Answer Book is a question-and-answer style book that takes the learnings from The Best of Boards one step further. It addresses board functions and structure with a section on board member selection and development. Oftentimes nonprofit boards aren’t intentional about these items. The Q&A addresses all the common questions that persons new to a board would ask or need to know. Board Source is a phenomenal organization whose aim is to help boards succeed. When I was researching governance for chapter 1 of my book, I cited several Board Source tools as they really do have the experience with nonprofit governance through their research. I love that each chapter of the text closes with suggested action steps to make the book more hands-on and practical. 

Did you know that women excel when it comes to embezzlement?

It’s the one type of fraud that is more likely to be committed by a woman than a man. That’s why embezzlement is often referred to as pink-collar crime. But, as Paxton points out, the crime has more to do with position rather than gender as most embezzlement is committed by lower-level employees, such as the bookkeeper who runs the accounting and finance side of an office.

This is especially true in smaller businesses. Packed with numerous real-life stories, Paxton shares tips every organization should use to ensure this type of crime does not happen on their watch. She also is known for creating fraud-related hashtags, my favorite being #trustisnotaninternalcontrol.

I think most fundraisers have one big fear--that your prospective donor might say “no!” Kent Stroman’s book can show you how to master the art of conversational fundraising. I love this book because it gives you the tools you need to have meaningful, productive, enjoyable conversations with both current donors and potential funders. This book gives you the benefit of learning from the input of hundreds of nonprofit leaders who identified their greatest obstacles to asking for major gifts.

Kent will equip you to seek and find larger donations and gain confidence as a fundraising staff member or volunteer. His 10-Step Staircase will help you become more comfortable, confident, and effective when asking and help donors truly enjoy the gift-making process. This book should be considered required reading for anyone involved with serious fundraising.

In this book basic politeness, previously viewed as an expensive, time-consuming administrative chore, author Lisa shows conclusively to be perhaps the single best fundraising opportunity of them all, particularly in securing a donor’s all-important second gift.

An ‘ology’ is a really big thing. With an ology, you’re a scientist. In Thank-ology the author elevates an attitude of gratitude to a richly creative and productive art backed by a precise understanding that produces results with certainty. I value it particularly because it’s packed with copyable examples and easy-to-follow guidance, all in an accessible style that reassures readers that here is friendly guidance through the intricacies of using thanking seriously, safely, and sincerely to warm the hearts of those who’ve just done something wonderful. The checklists, visuals, and open sharing of ideas really appealed to me, making this a book to treasure.

The authors of this book, Jimmy LaRose and Joanne Oppelt, know what they are talking about because they have both led numerous organizations through this process. I have been consulting for more than thirty-five years, and I can assure you the principles outlined in this book work. I think you will agree that all nonprofits want to be successful in their fundraising in order to transform their communities.

The outstanding feature of this book is that it lists exactly what to do at each step of the way—creating your case, building your advancement calendar, running your non-ask event, running the ask-event, cultivating donors, building your campaign cabinet, and more. If you think you can’t possibly raise these big gifts. Trust me, you can. 

If there’s anyone who cares about effective graphic design, it’s direct-mail experts and fundraisers like Brooks. Brooks devotes about one-quarter of his book to the “design of fundraising”—how to use graphics to improve response rates. If folks can’t read your pitch because of poor design, all the words you write won’t make a difference. “It doesn’t matter how great a piece looks if it’s hard to read,” he says. He deflates designs that make the designer feel good, but make the reader toss the communication because it’s just too much work to figure out.

Great service organisations depend on great fundraising, but so often the understanding of what’s really required to consistently deliver great fundraising performance somehow eludes many of the best causes. In defining what it takes to dependably deliver truly spectacular and sustainable levels of voluntary income, this book walks the talk, detailing case studies of persistent achievement that truly deserve the descriptor ‘great’.

In describing what great fundraising means in detail, Alan Clayton exposes organisational foibles and shortcomings that can all be overcome, and so points out practical ways towards increased income for any organisation, plus how to be a happier, enriched workplace too. 

I loved this book because Steven breaks down the barrier between major gift officers and planned-giving officers. I have found that nonprofits isolate their development offices and have development officers doing annual fund work, where they talk to donors about making a small, first-time gift without determining the donor's real capability and interests.

Then, maybe this donor gets passed along to a major gift officer who gets them to increase giving, but without thought of the ultimate gift. Finally, some of these donors get passed onto a planned giving office if they are determined to have the interest and capability to make that ultimate gift. Steven’s book proposes a method for every donor to have a personalized relationship with the nonprofit that will result in an ultimate gift.