Greetings! Welcome to Step By Step Fundraising! My name is Jim Berigan. You may know me from some of the posts I have contributed here over the past couple of years. I have also written extensively for our sister site, TopSchoolFundraisers.

I am very happy to announce that as of December 1, 2010, I am the new site manager and chief content contributor for Step By Step Fundraising. In addition, I will also be managing TopSchoolFundraisers.com and a brand new website called FundraisingIdeas.org, which is geared toward those people brand new to the fundraising world.

All three of these sites share a common and a terrific sponsor, FastTrack Fundraising. FastTrack is a Los Angeles based company that provides numerous services and products that help non-profits reach their fundraising goals. They have a wonderful website themselves, which I highly recommend you check out.

Not only does the FastTrack website contain a wide array of popular fundraising products, but is also offers numerous “how-to” articles from seasoned fundraising professionals and several productivity tools to help your community achieve its goal.

For example, there is a (free) online fundraising thermometer, which you can place on your organization’s website to track your progress. There is also a fundraising calculator, which you can use to estimate how much money a specific product sale could generate given the size of your community. These are great resources.

Although I have written more for Top School Fundraisers than I have for Step By Step Fundraising, I have always had a great deal of admiration and respect for the quality of the articles posted here and the excellent team of writers who have contributed their experience and expertise. My goal, as this site’s manager, is to continue this established tradition of providing high-caliber content that will be useful to our readers.

I also encourage you to take a few minutes to explore our extensive article archives. Step By Step boasts over 500 articles that are sure to provide you in-depth analysis and knowledge on virtually any topic relevant to fundraising.

Some of the most popular articles right now are:

Thank You Letter Template for Charitable Donations

Fundraising Donation Letter Template – 12 Items to Include in Donation Letters

How to Organize a Raffle Fundraiser

20 Free Grant Writing Resources for Non-Profits

In the coming days, weeks, and months, a team of writers and I will continue to investigate and answer the most pressing questions that today’s fundraisers are asking. We’ll also review various fundraising products, find out about new trends in raising money, and interview some of the leaders in this field.

We want you to come along for the ride! Please feel free to send us your questions, suggestions, and comments. We look forward to a lively exchange!

Thank you for visiting Step By Step Fundraising. We’ll look for you back here soon!