Imagining Abundance by Kerry Alys Robinson is part fundraising story and part spiritual autobiography. The book demonstrates how to integrate fundraising and spirituality. Robinson helped the Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel and Center at Yale raise $75 million, starting not just from scratch, but from debt and diminishment.

Her central thesis is faith: fundraising requires a deep trust in God's generosity. How can we ask donors to participate in what God is doing in our ministry if we don't believe God is at work?

The hand-written notes appeared a month before the prefab letters. It seems paradoxical, but apparently a personal note is much quicker to write than a generic boilerplate.

This little experiment has shown how important thank-you letters are. I feel like if I didn't give again to some of these charities, they wouldn't notice.

My husband and I inadvertently launched an experiment in charitable giving. We gave similarly-sized donations to a number of charities, and sent all the cheques on the same day. Here’s what happened.

Once upon a time, a man had unexpected guests. He didn't have anything to feed them! The host pounds on his friend's door at midnight, asking for three loaves of bread. Not just one loaf, not two loaves but three loaves. He keeps knocking until his friend gets out of bed and gives him the bread.

How does this story speak to fundraising?

Fundraisers and donors are co-creators in something beautiful. If you don't believe this, you are going to have trouble asking others to support your charity.

Some of the beautiful creations I have seen lately include…

Fundraising is the joyful and holy task of telling people about the garden and inviting them to water it.

Gardens need water. And not just 'once in a while' water, but steady and consistent water. Gardeners are rewarded for their efforts with flowers and foliage. It's a great deal - we get more than we give.