Creative fundraising? Carter Foundation leader offers inspiration in new book

John Robinson doesn’t expect you to become so engrossed by his new book that you devour it in one sitting. 

The executive vice president at the Amon G. Carter Foundation didn’t write it to be a page-turner but to be a source for new ideas on fundraising.

“I wanted you to be able to sit down and read a chapter, really a page or two at most,” he said. “And then maybe think about how to put some of the ideas in there to work, to come up with your own ideas from that.”

The book, “Your Next Inspiration: Ideas for Fundraising and Grantmaking,” is the culmination of a lot of brainstorming and conceptualizing that Robinson dealt with over his 45 years at the foundation. Inside the book are strategies, tools and lessons learned working with groups seeking ways to fund their projects that can be adapted for a variety of nonprofits and other organizations, Robinson said. 

He based his book of short, punchy chapters filled with examples of how nonprofits approach fundraising on another book that doesn’t seek to be read in one sitting: “Harvey Penick’s Little Red Book,” which uses an anecdotal style to impart golfing wisdom. 

“That was my model,” Robinson said. “Believe me, there’s a real trick to getting these ideas down to one page.”

As the book emphasizes, ideas are everywhere, Robinson said. He hopes reading short lessons about how groups approached their needs inspires others.

“Your Next Inspiration” is not, Robinson emphasizes, a book about how to get money from the Carter Foundation. 

“In this book are ways to broaden your base of support, how to reach more people,” he said. Fort Worth readers are likely to recognize plenty of the examples Robinson uses to spur the imagination. He highlights efforts from Taste Project, Tanglewood Elementary School, the Rotary Club of Fort Worth, among others. All share one trait, they use creative ideas to raise money for nonprofits or schools. 

In the introduction, Robinson writes about Elliot Goldman, a Fort Worth entrepreneur who found inspiration from a catalog he received from global nonprofit Heifer International. The catalog seeks contributions to purchase animals and provide agricultural education to help families in need.

“Your Next Inspiration: Ideas for Fundraising and Grantmaking”

CFPC Press, 2025. $29.95 hardcover. 

The book may be purchased at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or from the publisher. 

Using that as a basis, Goldman created the Greatest Gift Catalog Ever, a local version that annually highlights local nonprofits and generates more than $1 million in annual contributions to those charities.

Goldman’s idea has been replicated in other cities, Robinson notes. 

Robinson didn’t wake up with all this knowledge about grants and fundraising. 

The Texas Christian University graduate began his career with a major accounting firm. But he was soon lured away by a client, joining the Carter Foundation in 1980, initially as an accountant. 

The foundation is a nonprofit established in 1945 by then-Fort Worth Star-Telegram owner Amon G. Carter and his wife, Nenetta Burton Carter. Its grants support the arts, public affairs, education, health and human services. 

Initial funding of $8.5 million was funded in 1947 when the Carters sold their Wasson Field oil interests. Much of the foundation’s budget goes to the Amon Carter Museum of American Art as well as to a variety of TCU-related projects. As of the end of 2024, the foundation had made charitable gifts totaling over $860 million.

During Robinson’s tenure at the foundation, financial assets grew from $100 million to nearly $800 million. 

Soon after Robinson joined, he became involved with the local United Way and worked with several nonprofits as his career progressed. He was named executive vice president of the foundation in 1997. 

The book is a culmination of philanthropic insight gleaned from 30 years and $700 million of grantmaking experience.

Along the way, he has prepared several “books,” as he calls them, or short reports for the board of directors of the foundation. Like the chapters in “Your Next Inspiration,” they are quick and to the point, he said. 

“It really helped in writing this book,” he said. 

Helping to get the book across the finish line was Dave Lieber, a columnist at The Dallas Morning News. Lieber, who wrote a play about Amon Carter and an accompanying book, gave him advice about publishing. 

On the editing side, longtime editor John Dycus took care of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. 

Robinson believes there is something, some idea, for everyone in his book. 

“I don’t want anybody to tell me it’s a good book,” he said. “I want other people to say, ‘Hey, you ought to take a look at this thing, because there’s some good stuff in there.’ I want other people to spread the word about the book, not me.” 

Bob Francis is the business editor at the Fort WBob Francis is the business editor at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at bob.francis@fortworthreport.org.

Disclosure: The Amon G. Carter Foundation has been financial supporters of the Fort Worth Report. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.

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