Reviews of Great Fundraising Organizations
Great Fundraising Organizations was published in January 2025. Here are the reviews and coverage of the book and its launch that we have spotted.
If we’ve missed one – perhaps yours! – let us know and we’ll add it here.
Roger Craver
In his review for the Agitator Roger Craver writes:
“Alan Clayton doesn’t promise easy answers. What he offers is a path—a way to take what’s broken and make it whole. The Red Dot isn’t magic. It’s work. But it’s work that matters.
“Because in the end, this isn’t just a book about fundraising. It’s a book about making the world a better place. Faster. And isn’t that what we’re all trying to do?”
Jeff Brooks
The Fundraisingologist at Moceanic shares his response to Great Fundraising Organizations.
He says:
“The book gives the prescription for change. Any organization that has the will and the leadership for change can do it. I hope more will. We need Great Fundraising Organizations.”
Kenneth Kamp Butzbach
General Secretary at ISOBRO in Denmark, Kenneth shared an introduction to his review on Linkedin.
The following is an automated translation of the review by LinkedIn to English.
The book that can change your fundraising forever
Yes, it sounds high-spirited, but that was the feeling I was left with when I had read the brand new book Great Fundraising Organizations – Why and how the world’s best charities excel at raising money by Alan Clayton.
I jump out as a book reviewer in ISOBRO s media, where I recommend all fundraisers to read the book and pass it on to their leader.
This could be the start of a minor revolution for many charities.
As Secretary General of ISOBRO, I see daily how crucial leadership, interpretation of the organization’s purpose and internal cultural differences are for fundraising to have an impact.
The book hits just that: That strong fundraising requires the organization to master two core tasks – on the one hand, the rational and professional handling of its purpose and the activities under it, and on the other hand, the professional sale of the purpose – targeted at two different “customer groups”: those we help and those who contribute.
To succeed in both, it requires that the top management takes responsibility for the big picture. The vision must be clear and understandable to fundraisers, program people and people on the streets. When the organization gathers around a common narrative – “we have a PROBLEM, and YOU can help solve it” – energy, direction and commitment are created.
The book builds on Professor Adrian Sargeant’s research over more than ten years and documents with strong cases how organizations that balance purpose and fundraising achieve extraordinary growth.
If you have read it, I would love to hear from you. I would like to discuss it.
You can read my full review of the book here:
https://lnkd.in/ddpsE-3s
Ingrid Srinath
Philanthropy geek, civil society defender, Ingrid serves on the Governing Council of the BSE Social Stock Exchange, as well as the boards of Co-Impact, Resource Alliance, Majlis Law and the Bangalore Museum of Art and Photography.
Rebecca Wheeler
Charity Business Manager at Vranch House and MBA student Rebecca Wheeler shared her review of Great Fundraising Organizations on LinkedIn.
Do you work as a fundraiser or in charity management? If so, this is a must-read book!
I’ve just finished ‘Great Fundraising Organisations’ by Alan Clayton and it is illuminating, inspiring and implementable.
I’m not a fan of the ‘self-help’-style business books where the author claims to have magically solved a common problem, but the book is just one long brag about how amazing they are at business: this book is based on fact, not on untested theory or opinion.
It doesn’t promise to make your charity an instant fortune based on an untested idea, it uses years’ worth of rigorous global research to drill down to reveal what practices and processes the very successful fundraising charities have in common, and how to replicate them.
I had only read 20 pages before I started talking about it with our CEO and implementing some of the ideas. It has made me look at how to fundraise (and how to grow our fundraising) in a completely different way, and has fired up the rest of the senior management staff to overhaul our approach.
This isn’t a dispassionate financial book full of hard facts and figures (although it has lots of those too); as well as the importance of fundraising to the charity, this book looks at what it means to donors, how important it is to recognise them as individuals, treat them well, and meet the ‘needs’ they have when donating. Alan Clayton also recognises the amazing things that charities do, and how vital it is to ensure this is communicated clearly.
If you want your charity to sustain a successful fundraising programme in the long-term then this book really is a must-read!
More reviews
You can find more reviews on:
- the Revolutionise announcement of the book, including from
- Professor Adrian Sargeant, Institute for Sustainable Philanthropy
- Emma Malcolm, Director of Fundraising & Marketing, Macular Society
- Alex Hyde-Smith, Chief Marketing Officer, Alzheimer’s Society
- Dr Haseeb Shabbir, Program Lead for MSc in Charity Marketing and Fundraising, Centre for Charity Effectives, Bayes Business School
- Martin Giménez Rébora, Gerente de Movilización de Recursos, UNICEF Argentina
- Russell N James III, JD PhD CFP, Professor and CH Foundation Chair in Personal Financial Planning, Director of Graduate Studies in Charitable Planning, Texas Tech University
- Amazon UK’s listing of the book
- Fundraising World UK‘s listing of the book on its fundraising bookshop
More on the book
- Celebrating the arrival of Great Fundraising Organizations (24 February 2025)
- Global launch events held for Great Fundraising Organizations (13 February 2025)
- Great Fundraising Organizations published to help nonprofits grow their income and impact (12 February 2025)
