USC President C. L. Max Nikias was 1,400 miles from the Los Angeles campus, but he knew just how to appeal to his audience. In a swanky hotel ballroom, he told the crowd of alumni and donors that Texas had become the largest feeder of students to USC after California, and that students from their…
Do you ever think about how much the community knows about your organization? The truth is the community may know your name, but is not aware of the depths of what your organization has done or will do.
Relationships with amazing donors are so rewarding. They benefit your mission and they enrich our lives as fundraising professionals. I have learned and grown from each interaction and donor relationship. Nurturing those relationships is fun—but can't be left to chance. It is an ongoing cycle of genuine activities to deepen a dialogue and express thanks. Here are 20 ideas of how to show your best friends just how important they are.
Never forget the ground game. At the end of the day, our biggest success lies in the personal connection — targeting people specifically, reaching out to them individually (by email, phone, in person and, yes, even social media).
So you've identified your big kahuna potential prospect, your mega-capacity donor. What next? How do you get in the door? Here are five quick tips to help you get that very first visit.
These five insights will help you approach your next ask from a more comfortable, authentic and successful standpoint as a fundraiser!
If you do all the talking, you’ll never find out what major donors think about your organization. Here are three of my favorite questions to ask to find out what’s on my donor’s mind.
Join FundRaising Success in Washington, D.C., next week for our inaugural peer-to-peer conference, Engage P2P: Redefining Peer to Peer.
Wouldn’t it be great to have some objective way to mechanically ask new people for a gift? We could just “know” that we’re asking the right amount.
We may not have a “Welcome — come on in!” sign hanging at the door, but from time to time, donors do stop by — often unexpectedly. The prepared fundraiser makes sure in advance that the organization is ready at a moment’s notice to present itself and its work in a positive light.
