Time to share one of my favourite fundraising resources:

Fundraising is Beautiful is a series of podcasts that are music to my ears. Orchestrated by the masterful Jeff Brooks and Steven Screen, Fundraising is Beautiful is a delight to listen to, and filled with brilliant fundraising advice and ideas.

Right now, Steven and Jeff are into the second of their three-part series about “How to tell if your fundraising is good”. Part one was about writing style, part two was about content, and I’m looking forward to part three.

If you’ve got a pod, or a pad, or a plain old computer, check out the Fundraising is Beautiful podcasts as soon as you can. And there are plenty of back issues that are all worth listening to.

No idea what a podcast is? Check out this plain English video by the awesome crew at commoncraft.com.

Top three fundraising blogs:

1. Donor Power Blog. It was a sad day when Jeff Brooks left DPB in September 2009, but it’s worth digging deep into his many hundreds of posts to learn from his simply brilliant perspective on fundraisng. My special favorite is stupid nonprofit ads.
2. Future fundrasing now, Jeff Brooks’ new blog will, no doubt, be spectacular, and is all about donors.
3. The Agitator – daily posts that will give you access to good fundraising thinking and resources.

Top three fundraising resources websites

1. SOFII – the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration. An online museum of the best fundraising from around the world. You simply must subscribe.
2. UK Fundraising – all the latest news on fundraising in the UK, including a great blog aggregator.
3. NTEN – the nonprofit technology network.

Top three fundraising e-newsletters

1. Mal Warwick’s e-Newsletter has over 11,000 subscribers in 69 countries, and Mal continues to provide subscribers with great stories about the best direct marketing fundraising.
2. Tom Ahern e-Newsletter – good, solid tips that will help you better communicate with your donors.
3. And an Australian addition – Fundraising and Philanthropy’s e-Newsletter.

What do you think? Would you like to suggest some favorite bloggers, websites or e-newsletters that help you better do your job? Please comment.

Twitter is a great way of connecting with other fundraisers. Here are my top five fundraisers to follow on twitter. Why don’t you join them and be part of the growing network of wired fundraisers who are using twitter to connect and learn.

@scottharrison (founder of charity:water and using twitter effectively to raise money)

@kenburnett1 (author of Relationship Fundraising and founder of www.sofii.org)

@seantriner (co-founder of Pareto Fundraising)

@Markyphillips (www.queerideas.co.uk and bluefrog)

@howardlake (superstar of UK Fundraising)

Please comment and highlight great fundraisers who you follow on twitter. Hopefully some gals to add to this list soon!

1. Well, perhaps it’s not fair to say five. Every single Tiny Essentials of Fundraising book (about various topics, including fundraising, regular giving, major gifts and volunteer boards) is so short you can read it in your lunch hour. So I hope you and publisher Ken Burnett will forgive me for treating them as just one book. And if I did have to treat them as individual books, they’d take most of the spots on this list. You can find them all at White Lion Press.
2. Fundraising When Money Is Tight, by Mal Warwick. Mal wrote this at the speed of light for the 2008/9 recession, but he’s really written a classic fundraising text. By doing the right things, and doing them well, you’ll be in a strong position to weather any crisis. He’s also written brilliant books about direct marketing, copywriting and fundraising strategy and they’re all helpful.
3. Made to Stick, by brothers Chip and Dan Heath. If every fundraiser and nonprofit CEO took action based on what’s in this book, we’d be spared of the drivel that too often masquerades as nonprofit communications. How to develop simple, brilliant and effective messages. And a fun read, too!
4. Ogilvy on Advertising, by the great master himself. It’s a shame that we won’t get to find out what David Ogilvy thinks of the new media world. However, the principles in Ogivly on Advertising, are timeless and still apply. I wish I’d read this before I spent a cent of charity money on advertising. You can read my review here.
5. The Influential Fundraiser, by Bernard Ross and Clare Segal. Oh, I wish this book had been available when I was new to fundraising. Bernard’s and Clare’s  unique approach brings psychology and interpersonal communications learnings into the fundraising world and challenges you to look at any ask from the donor’s point of view. Great for bequest and major gift fundraisers too.

Do you have a book you’d like to add to this list? Or share your thoughts on any of the books listed. Please feel free to comment.