Fundraiser Education

Content is the heart of your successful fundraising strategy. If you don’t sell it, you won’t connect with your audience. And if you don’t do that, you haven’t got a snowball’s chance in you-know-where to persuade folks to give to you to further your mission. ...

A recent study indicated that the average development director lasts just 19 months in his or her job. Having just passed the 19-month mark in my first development director job, it seemed like a good milestone to take stock of the factors that helped me find success and satisfaction. So, here are five things I’ve learned, firsthand, that are integral to being a successful development leader...

To achieve long-term success as a major gifts officer, you have to understand how complex your world is in reality. You are an explorer as you set sail to build new relationships—internally with staff, administration and volunteers, and externally with prospects. You must have clarity of purpose and focus as each relationship and fiscal year is different...

Every day, it seems like there is a new, shiny thing to play with in the nonprofit space. Some of them will stand the test of time. Others will not. But rumors of the death of “X” (where “X” is direct mail, unrestricted giving, segmentation, corporate philanthropy or whatever else is tried, true and boring) are greatly exaggerated. Highly effective nonprofits are doubling down, improving on what they know works, has worked and will work, regardless of whether their stories make for great dinner party anecdotes...

Whether you deliberately set out to be a fundraiser or you simply “landed” in a position, if you enjoy the work of fundraising, you probably hope to get ahead in the field. That may mean you switch organizations or that you take on more responsibility where you currently are working....

Brian and I had a delightful conversation last week. Brian is the CEO of a faith-based charity in the Southwest. He wanted to talk about the age-old conundrum of whether to ask for a specific amount when you solicit a gift....

Is the charity-wristband trend making a comeback? Figures from the four charities selling the new Unity band for World Cancer Day (WCD) suggest it might be. For some of the charities, online stock of the bands sold out by Feb. 8, four days after this year’s WCD on Feb. 4. After selling 670,000 Unity bands…

Penn State's THON 2016 ended Sunday afternoon with its fundraising total revealed amid the signature cheers and exhausted exaltation among too-tired-for-words students fresh from a weekend of nonstop dancing and a year of persistent fundraising—all in the name of helping children with cancer. But make no mistake, things were different this year. Very different. THON…

Sixteen nonprofits came together in late 2015 and developed 10 key components for successful moves management for mid-level to major giving...

I had the opportunity to speak to a large group of fundraising professionals, CEOs and board members earlier this week. We talked about everyone’s favorite topic: the secret to successful, sustained fundraising. Most of my remarks were on the board of directors and the vital role it plays in the fund-development process. I’ve written and…