SUCCESS IN FUNDRAISING HAS BEEN DEFINED EITHER BY FOLLOWING A SERIES OF MECHANICAL MYTHS ABOUT WHY PEOPLE GIVE OR BY SUPPORTING A MAGICAL NEW IDEA THAT PROMISES SUCCESS THROUGH AN UNDISCOVERED KEY TO THE PHILANTHROPIC MIND. NEITHER ARE ENTIRELY RELIABLE AND, YET, BOTH HAVE THEIR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES. SUCCESS OCCURS THROUGH A VERY SIMPLE APPROACH TO CURIOSITY: THINKING—SOUNDLY AND CREATIVELY—ABOUT PROSPECT, THE PROJECT, THE MONEY, AND THE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES OF EACH NEW VENTURE.

HARTSOOK HAS BEEN DEEMED A SIGNIFICANTLY SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISING FIRM FOR OVER 33 YEARS. A FORTUNE 500 COMPANY CEO ONCE COMMENTED THAT HE HAD OBSERVED HARTSOOK FOR OVER 25 YEARS AND HE SAW SOMETHING VERY DIFFERENT ABOUT THE FIRM COMPARED TO OTHER FUNDRAISING COUNSEL. “HARTSOOK RAISES MONEY DURING DIFFICULT AND CHALLENGING ECONOMIC TIMES WHEN OTHERS DON’T.” HE COMMENTED THAT MANY BUSINESSES, WHILE CREATIVE AND PRODUCTIVE, ARE DEPENDENT ON POSITIVE ECONOMIC CONDITIONS TO BE SUCCESSFUL. HARTSOOK’S SUCCESS HAD NOT BEEN DEPENDENT ON THE ECONOMY. HIS CONCLUSION WAS THIS: “HARTSOOK IS AN ENTERPRISE, NOT JUST A BUSINESS.” AS THE RETIRED FOUNDER OF THIS ENTERPRISE, HE REALIZED HE HAD DISCOVERED OUR SECRET SAUCE.