Donor Relationship Management

Most fundraisers spend an inordinate amount of time and energy worrying about making the case for their organization. But a far more productive undertaking is to get to know your major donors—particularly why and how they want to give. Find that out and you’ll have a sense of what you should ask them for and…

We are behind in our Christmas fundraising efforts. From a seasoned fundraiser perspective, nothing weighs more heavily during the holidays than the stress of that simple fact. It is now my job to create the plan of attack for the next nine months to achieve the fiscal year fundraising goal, which will not be easy. When others in need depend upon your success, you constantly strive to seek solutions...

Why do donors go away? Here's some research from Know Your Own Bone: "Why Donors Stop Giving to Cultural Organizations: Data." The finding includes the top reasons donors stop giving: Not acknowledged/thanked for previous gift: 244 Not asked to donate again: 199 Lack of communication about use of funds/result of gift: 174 "Forgot": 138 Gave…

No matter how you feel about 2016, it’s now in the rear view mirror for fundraisers (except those who are frantically working to receipt the donations that were made or mailed before the clock struck midnight and 2016 faded into the past). But every nonprofit organization has three gifts from 2016 that are filled with potential for 2017—if only you take advantage of them in this new year...

Believe it or not, my Elvis obsession helped me arrive here, right at this video from University of Cambridge. Elvis has played a central, deified role in his life and in the lives of the women who knew him. But in this video, he’s cast as a more peripheral character. In the short clip, a Cambridge historian narrates the fascinating history of teenage fundraising in 1950s America...

Last year at this time, I sent $25 donations to 19 organizations. Only one ranked among larger organizations in term of annual income. So, how do I, a small-level donor, feel 12 months later? Would I want to give again (and maybe a larger amount) based on the relationship that was built in 2016?...

I was in a meeting once with the top finance people and management of a leading national charity, and I just could not get them to see that they were losing money—that the donors at the top of their donor pyramid were giving up to 40 percent less than those same donors gave the year before...

Eventually, most nonprofits will face the challenge of replacing their constituent relationship management (CRM) database. Sometimes, it is a good thing. Your current system simply can’t keep up with growth. Other times, it is a matter of an aging system, an unsupported infrastructure or slowness in customer support response. Here are seven tips for nonprofits to follow when moving to a new CRM database...

I hope your year-end fundraising campaign is going well. Fundraising is a year-round effort and after you’ve thanked your donors, you need to make a plan to communicate with them at least once or twice a month throughout the year. If you’re getting stressed out wondering how you’re going to pull this off, then you…

There's a single word that can be one of the worst or one of the best words to use in fundraising. The word? We. Here's how to make it the worst: When we means "those of us in the organization" or "the committee that wrote this message." When used that way, it's exclusionary. It sets…