Write for Expert Fundraiser.

Alan Sharpe, our publisher, is ready to pay you a one-time flat fee or an ongoing royalty for putting your knowledge of fundraising down on paper.

If you are an expert in at least one area of fundraising, and if you know enough to write a how-to guide on your topic, Alan wants to hear from you.

If your area of specialization is one that Alan feels is in high demand, he will commission you to write a special report, handbook or ebook on your topic, and pay you for your efforts.

Here are the topics that Expert Fundraiser needs your help with:

• Raising money from local businesses
• Facebook fundraising
• How to run a silent auction
• How to manage third-party fundraising events
• How to use social media to raise money for your next special event
• How to get free radio, TV and print publicity for your charity or event
• How to organize and run a walkathon or run
• How to organize and run a fundraising dinner
• How to organize and run a fundraising gala
• 101 products to sell at your next fundraiser
• How to raise funds with online peer-to-peer tools and team fundraising webpages
• How to use YouTube for fundraising
• Where to look for grants
• How to write a grant proposal

Failure to make eye contact is often a sign of deceit, says Lindsay Moran, a former Central Intelligence Agency officer and author of Blowing My Cover: My Life as a CIA Spy. Another expert, Derrick Parker, who served with the New York Police Department for 20 years, agrees that shifty eyes are evidence of a shifty nature. So make eye contact with your audience, frequently and sincerely.

The most important time to look your audience members in the eye is when you begin your talk. Your mother isn’t the only person in the world who insisted that you look at her when she was speaking to you. Looking your audience in the eye is common courtesy, around the world. Someone looking you in the eye deserves a look back.

I know this is difficult. I have been speaking before large audiences for decades, yet, just recently, I had a battle looking at my audience. I had to stand in front of a group of people and make an apology. As I shuffled my notes, preparing to start talking, I noticed that I was reluctant to look anyone in my audience in the eye. I was ashamed, and my shame showed. I had to fight my fear and raise my head and look my audience in the eye before I could hope to have them accept my apology.

Another important time to look individual audience members in the eye is when one of them is asking you a question. Look at them for the duration of their question. Show them your undivided attention. Then direct your answer to the whole group.

Also, when you are about to make an important point, pause, look up from your notes, and make eye contact.

Make sure you look at your whole audience, from the left to the center to the right, and from the front to the middle to the back. Each person in your audience should know that you are speaking to them individually, because your eyes say so.

I once sat through a sermon delivered by a preacher who directed his message to the clock on the wall at the back of the hall. His message literally went over my head. He spoke as though I wasn’t there. What he said to me that day I cannot remember.