Events

Nonprofits across the country have pledged to participate in #GivingTuesday on Dec. 3 — but signing up to participate in the online giving campaign is just the first step. Being truly successful on #GivingTuesday takes proper planning, outreach, logistics and follow-up. Luckily, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.

Knight Foundation created an easy-to-use resource called the Giving Day Playbook full of ideas we hope you’ll borrow. It was written for the many community foundations around the country that have launched Giving Days or geographically based online fundraising campaigns.

FundRaising Success announces the 2013 Gold Awards for Fundraising Excellence Special Events winner: Monmouth University.

As dated methods of event fundraising fade away, digital journals can remain viable fundraising vehicles for years to come. By translating what has made the printed journal a successful tool for so many fundraising events into a more contemporary format, digital journals can offer more value than ever to sponsors, guests and staff.

Independent fundraising events (IFEs) are proving successful and lucrative for organizations of all shapes, sizes and missions. While it’s true that there are many benefits of starting one of these profitable programs, diving in carelessly ensures that you don’t maximize your revenue potential.

Your job is to change the culture and mind-set in your organization that a special event is everyone’s responsibility. If you increase the importance of a special event in your organization, other positive results will follow!       

The biggest key to holding successful fundraising events is planning for success. Once the initial plan is developed, modifying it across multiple events and into new fiscal years requires little additional time. In the end, taking the time to organize and plan actually saves time and maximizes the opportunity to raise more money. 

Following are some simple ways you can take advantage of any downtime you have during the last few weeks of summer to get more out of you fundraising marketing efforts come the fall.

Granted, I know that a group of eight people does not represent an entire audience segment, but this is not the first time I've interviewed a group of donors and supporters to find that opinions and expectations do not always line up with what we believe within our own walls.

FundRaising Success' first-ever in-person event, the Engage Conference, really was a engaging day with attendees and speakers interacting, sharing and learning.

Last weekend I attended a gala, and I was reminded about an important truth in fundraising as I watched the evening's program unfurl and listened closely to the ask: You can't fake passion.