A new book from fundraising expert Gail Perry

Easy Fundraising & Friendmaking for Board Members

How to Raise Friends and Funds for Your Cause.

Practical resources to help you to find your best role in fundraising and help raise money for your nonprofit.

Written by
Gail Perry, MBA, CFRE

Gail Perry is an internationally recognized fundraising expert and keynote speaker who has spent 30+ years helping nonprofit boards embrace fundraising with confidence and joy. A major gifts and capital campaign strategist, she is the founder of Gail Perry Group and a LinkedIn Top Voice in Philanthropy. Read her story.

A new way to think about fundraising

Make Friends First. The Fundraising Follows.

This book will show board members a completely different approach.

They will discover that fundraising isn’t about asking for money.

It’s about building relationships.

It’s about connecting people to a mission they care about.

It’s about opening doors.

Trustees will learn how to:

Feel confident talking about your organization
Build genuine connections that lead to giving
Play a meaningful role—without being the “asker”

This is practical. It’s real-world. And it works.

Join the Interest List

"Gail Perry has written the book so many nonprofit leaders and board members have been waiting for—whether they realize it yet or not. In Easy Fundraising and Friendmaking, she reframes fundraising in the most human way possible: not as a transaction, but as an act of connection. Her central idea—that friendmaking comes before fundraising—is both deeply intuitive and too often forgotten in a sector stuck on the hamster wheel of transactional asks."

Allison Fine
author, activist, and expert on the intersection of technology and social good

"Gail Perry, MBA, CFRE is the wise woman of nonprofit boards, deeply experienced with real-life solutions. Gail is a legend for helping boards get functionally comfortable with fundraising — sort of a ‘board whisperer.’ And she’s a veteran capital-campaign heavyweight, too, so we’re talking tested advice. Her book’s conclusion reveals Gail’s secret recipe for uncovering major donors and closing their gifts: well worth the read."

Tom Ahern
widely regarded as the fundraising world’s foremost authority on donor communications

A book written for the board — and for everyone.

Easy Friendmaking & Fundraising for Board Members gives the board a clear, natural role in fundraising — one built around relationships, not solicitation.

Board members learn how to open doors, build relationships, and support your mission in ways that feel genuine.

Nonprofit leaders get a shared framework they can actually use — not just hand the book over and hope.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

Understand the board’s role in fundraising — without confusion or resistance
Open doors and build relationships that lead to giving
Participate meaningfully – even without making a direct ask
Talk about your mission with confidence and ease
Work together as true partners in fundraising

"This is the book all board members need. Every nonprofit board member I’ve worked with has the same fear – that fundraising means pressuring friends and colleagues. Gail Perry dismantles that fear completely. Easy Friendmaking & Fundraising for Board Members gives board members a path they can actually embrace – one built on people-to-people relationships, not financial transactions.”

Bernard Ross
=mc consulting; International Nonprofit Consultant and Author

Board members don’t need to become fundraisers. They need a role that fits.

Gail Perry with a group of board members

When board members understand exactly what they’re being asked to do — and it turns out to be something they’re actually good at — everything changes.

They open doors. They make introductions. They tell your story with genuine enthusiasm. They build the kind of donor relationships that staff simply can’t replicate.

That’s not theory. That’s what happens when board members finally feel equipped.

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I’ve spent 30 years watching this problem — and solving it.

I’m Gail Perry.

I’ve spent my career helping nonprofits raise millions of dollars—and helping board members step into fundraising with confidence.

Here’s what I’ve seen again and again:

When board members understand their role… everything changes.

Fundraising becomes easier.
Donors feel more connected.
Organizations grow.

This book brings those insights together in a way that’s simple, clear, and immediately useful.

READ MY STORY

You don’t have to ask for money to be a fundraising superstar.

Easy Fundraising and Friendmaking for Board Members is a practical guide for nonprofit board members who want to make a real difference—without feeling awkward, pushy, or unsure what to say.

Book Resources

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No fluff. Just practical ideas that help nonprofit board members become more confident and more effective.