I have a confession to make: until this week, I had not yet used Uber. As a woman often traveling by myself, I always felt it a bit unnerving to get into some stranger’s unmarked car. But when I was in Dallas recently, I had to try Uber as that’s what the hotel offered as the shuttle from the airport...
Erica Waasdorp
Growing a monthly donor program is a drip-by-drip, bit-by-bit approach. That’s why January is such a great month to go for it. But there are two important things to bear in mind. First, I recommend creating a monthly-only page. When you’re trying to drive donors to give monthly, it must be very easy to find...
Let me start off with wishing you and yours a happy and healthy new year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season. I also hope you had some time to relax, in between working with donors and systems to try to optimize the donations coming in by the end of the year...
My husband Patrick and I got married 13 years ago, just after Thanksgiving. That first year, I started the annual Christmas newsletter tradition...
A few days ago, I received this wonderful email from an organization in Alaska. “Erica—we are up to 35 monthly donors, with an annualized income of $10,500!” It always makes me happy to hear from organizations that keep chipping away at their program...
The push is on. Its year-end, so one more month to bring in as much money as you can to support your cause. With or without #GivingTuesday campaigns, I bet you have at least a few messages going out in the next few weeks to ask your donors and those on your email list for money...
As you’re getting ready for Thanksgiving and your year-end campaigns, I hope you’ll make one resolution: include your monthly donors in your thank-you messaging...
I just read this from Seth Godin’s blog: “…years from now, your future self is going to thank you for something you did today, for an asset you began to build, a habit you formed, a seed you planted. Even if you’re not sure of where it will lead, today’s the day to begin.”...
As I attend conferences and presentations lately, I find I’m starting to be one of the “older hats” when it comes to fundraising experience. Some of my colleagues are starting to retire or slow down. The same applies for leaders and colleagues in nonprofits. I’ve seen major changes over just the past few years, but it’s a good reminder to get back to basics...
As you’re growing your number of monthly donors over time, it’s important to consider how you should include your monthly donors in your year-end giving. Of course, every organization is different, but it’s important to remember one thing...
I just returned from the International Fundraising Congress, held in Noordwijkerhout, Netherlands every October. It’s always a great gathering of some 1,000 individuals from 65+ countries who raise funds in their local countries, and sometimes outside of it as well...
Exercise regularly. Easier said than done. If you’re concerned about your donor retention and donor experience, let’s look at the best three fundraising exercises to help you do just that...
By now, you’ve all heard of the GDPR. It stands for: The General Data Protection Regulation. GDPR is a regulation law in the European Union on data protection and privacy for all individuals within the EU and the European Economic Area...
By planning ahead and thinking which organizations donors would like to support with a small monthly gift now allows them to give themselves a little vacation at the year end when life gets busy. They’re feeling good now, and they’ll feel good when they receive their thank-you letters and subsequent warm/fuzzy communications from the organizations they support...
I’m still on a sustainer “high.” I just came back from a fabulous “Sustainer Day,” organized by the Direct Marketing Association of Washington. In just four fast hours, nonprofits and service providers shared trends, best practices and ways they’re working to bring in new sustainers and improve monthly donor retention...
