Apollo Advancement

Apollo Advancement I help arts, education and community non-profits raise more money for their missions.

Back to the basics, folks.
06/15/2026

Back to the basics, folks.

One is issued by a system. The other comes from a human being. Donors can tell the difference. The Daily Oracle: one short pronouncement on fundraising, every

Every donor on your file is silently asking one question. Most organizations never answer it.
06/10/2026

Every donor on your file is silently asking one question. Most organizations never answer it.

Did it matter? Answer it before they stop asking. The Daily Oracle: one short pronouncement on fundraising, every weekday morning, from Apollo Advancement.

You will want to send an email instead. DON'T.
06/09/2026

You will want to send an email instead. DON'T.

Not to ask. Just because. Do it. No, really. Do it. The Daily Oracle: one short pronouncement on fundraising, every weekday morning, from Apollo Advancement.

If your non-profit isn't doing this, you're basically CHOOSING not to raise more money. That's how strong the evidence i...
06/08/2026

If your non-profit isn't doing this, you're basically CHOOSING not to raise more money. That's how strong the evidence is.

So, your call. No pun intended.

In Penelope Burk’s famous test, a thank-you call moved the next gift up 39 percent. Your move. The Daily Oracle: one short pronouncement on fundraising, every

Hint: It's not a fridge magnet.
06/05/2026

Hint: It's not a fridge magnet.

Penelope Burk asked thousands of donors what would make them give again. Their answer costs nothing. The Daily Oracle: one short pronouncement on fundraising,

This might seem bleedingly obvious. It's not. It's where a huge amount of fundraising goes wrong.
06/04/2026

This might seem bleedingly obvious. It's not. It's where a huge amount of fundraising goes wrong.

Not prospects. Not records. Not revenue streams. Human beings.

I've launched something new: The Daily Oracle.Every weekday morning, one short, provocative, perplexing, challenging fun...
06/04/2026

I've launched something new: The Daily Oracle.

Every weekday morning, one short, provocative, perplexing, challenging fundraising truth. Two minutes to read with your coffee, and built to change how you think about donors, asking, and what your organization believes is possible.

This week is all about the basics nobody actually does: thanking donors like humans, telling them what their gift accomplished, and (yes) picking up the bloody phone.

It's free, forever. Read it (and subscribe) here:

The Daily Oracle: daily counsel on the ancient art of asking. One brief fundraising pronouncement each morning for nonprofit leaders, from Apollo Advancement.

Most nonprofits I work with don't have a commitment or effort problem. They have a *clarity* problem.They know they coul...
04/23/2026

Most nonprofits I work with don't have a commitment or effort problem. They have a *clarity* problem.

They know they could be raising more. They suspect there's untapped potential in their donor base. But they're not sure where to start, so they default to what they know...and revenue stays flat.

A fundraising AUDIT cuts through the guesswork. I review your donor data, interview your leadership, survey your board, assess your communications, and benchmark everything against sector standards. Then I tell you what's actually going on, and what to do about it.

Seven areas. Every finding grounded in your actual data, your actual donors, your actual capacity.

The fundraising STRATEGIC PLAN is a written twelve-month plan with prioritized recommendations, a phased implementation roadmap, revenue projections, and specific guidance on what to do first, second, and third.

If your fundraising revenue has plateaued, if your board keeps asking the same questions year after year, or if you're preparing for a campaign and need to know what you're building on, this is the place to start.

Details and pricing:

Not sure what's working in your fundraising program? A fundraising audit examines your donor data, board engagement, communications, and more, then gives you a plan your team can follow.

On to Fundraising Fallacy #3!, i.e. "We Need a Big Event" or "The Gala that Ate Your Fundraising Program" For strugglin...
03/21/2026

On to Fundraising Fallacy #3!, i.e. "We Need a Big Event" or "The Gala that Ate Your Fundraising Program"

For struggling non-profits, the gala is so, so tempting. It's big. It's sexy. But, as it turns out, the organizations that raise the most money aren't the ones with the biggest galas. They're the ones with the deepest relationships.

And, critically, more often than not the cost and effort of running a gala actually sucks away the time and energy you need to forge those deep relationships, while producing lacklustre results, at best (once you do the math honestly).

This is an important one. And, for many people, deeply counterintuitive.

Your gala raised $80,000, but once you count the hidden costs, it netted far less. For most small-to-medium nonprofits, the gala is one of the most expensive and least efficient ways to raise money.

I managed to get The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Field of Dreams into this one. The latest installment of my "E...
03/19/2026

I managed to get The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Field of Dreams into this one. The latest installment of my "Everything You Believe About Fundraising Is Wrong" series.

Fallacy #2: "If We Do Good Work, The Money Will Come:" The Comforting Lie That Keeps Good Organizations Broke

Your nonprofit does great work, so why aren't donors lining up? Because good programs don't raise money on their own. You have to ask. Here's why, and how.

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