Events

2016 Gold Award Winners: Direct Mail—House
January 23, 2017 at 4:13 pm

This package, although simple, accomplishes several tasks well. First, it makes the reader care. On the front of the #10 outer, a large black-and-white photograph of a dog in a decaying box is heartbreaking. It takes up almost half of the face of the envelope...

2016 Gold Award Winners: Campaign of the Year
January 23, 2017 at 4:05 pm

The scope of this multichannel campaign—consisting of 
an email series, social media posts, landing pages, SEM ads, 
catalogs, inserts, brochures and more—is staggering. But it 
was the consistency across channels that really wowed our judges...

12 Ideas for Powerful P2P Fundraising
January 19, 2017 at 11:22 am

Success in P2P requires more than simply hosting a cool event and telling participants to go fundraise. It’s an art, as or more nuanced than traditional fundraising methods and perhaps even less understood. So, we’ve called in some help. Here, straight from the experts—the people on the front lines of P2P—are 12 ideas to take your peer-to-peer fundraising to the next level...

Child CEO Brings Light to Darkness—by Accident
January 18, 2017 at 8:49 am

The first time I understood that I did not sell stuff was when a client said, “I need to buy some X,” and I asked “why?” She stopped with her hand in the air. She stayed there a bit. Finally, she said, “I can’t answer that.” For any decision you make, ask yourself why you made that decision, and whether anybody needed to make that decision. Rinse and repeat until you get to your true purpose...

How Events Hurt Major Gifts—And What to Do About It
January 9, 2017 at 8:00 am

What is it about nonprofit boards, leaders and staff who so easily catch events fever and lose their way on thinking objectively about this topic? If that sounds familiar—if hardly any argument or reasoning will dissuade your leaders from organizing an event—then make the best of it by doing the following...

Forget Sexy Firefighters—Charity 'Dad Bod' Calendar All the Rage
December 30, 2016 at 10:26 am

Meet Brian Merkel, calendar cover model for 2017. The Lino Lakes, Minn., dad is one of 12 fathers in the first-ever “Dad Bods” calendar being sold as a cheeky fundraiser for Spare Key, a Twin Cities nonprofit that makes mortgage payments for parents who have a critically ill or injured child. The dozen dads pictured…

Is This the End of the Charity Gala?
December 20, 2016 at 8:00 am

While running corporate philanthropy at a public company, I received thousands of emails and letters requesting sponsorships for various nonprofit events. The majority of inquiring organizations approached corporate philanthropy the same way as 30 years ago: Sponsor our event, buy a table, give us a copy of your logo to display. But amidst an exploding…

Using Email to Drive Attendance to Your Nonprofit Event
December 16, 2016 at 8:00 am

Many nonprofits host an annual event as a fundraiser. From guest speakers to walks/runs, conferences to silent auctions, there are many types of events to help raise money. No matter what type of event you host, using email marketing is a smart tactic to get the word out. And, because sending an email invitation is…

How Much Money Does Santacon Actually Raise for Charity?
December 12, 2016 at 8:00 am

Santacon is known as a day of holiday-themed, beer-fueled revelry that delights some and annoys many others. However, there’s one bright side to the event that fills city streets with hundreds of drunk Santas near the holidays: It raises tens of thousands of dollars for charity each year. It’s not clear how much money Santacon—which…

Blackbaud Predicts Record-Breaking #GivingTuesday
November 9, 2016 at 10:15 am

Nonprofit software developer Blackbaud is predicting record donations on #GivingTuesday, the global day of giving that takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Established five years ago, #GivingTuesday encourages charitable giving following the Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping days. Blackbaud is a founding partner of the movement, and has been tracking data on donations…