This longtime fundraiser wrote a book to help nonprofit board members ‘feel like heroes

If you’re looking for an expert in asking folks for money, Valerie Jones is your gal. The certified fundraising executive has been supporting Philadelphia-area organizations for more than 30 years and has trained more than a thousand board members to strengthen their nonprofits’ bottom lines. After taking a life skills and meditation course, she realized she wanted to get more people fundraising “the Val way.” Her book on how to do just that, “Nonprofit Hero: Five Easy Steps to Successful Board Fundraising” (Rownan & Littlefield, 2018) was released in November. Generocity asked Jones what it was like writing and publishing a book after years in the field. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.