Fundraiser Education

Each community can believe in a nonprofit for a different reason. Nevertheless, it’s the specific, on-the-ground rationale that energizes support from each of the affected communities and constituencies. The difficulty arises when those driving the cause continue to proclaim the global goals without reference to the local goals...

Millennials—those Americans born from 1980 to 2000—represent the future of philanthropy, and nonprofits must to adapt to them, three young San Diego social activists said Wednesday. “The old ways of giving back are just not enough,” said Winnie Xu of Giventure, a company developing a mobile app to help millennials volunteer in their communities. “Nonprofit…

I was having lunch recently with a donor and excellent fundraising volunteer. He kept thinking about new ways to succeed in his business venture. He then said, “Many times in life and work you should use the snow globe theory. Shake the globe to make things happen.” He wasn’t talking about snow. He was talking about changing old practices and culture by thinking out of the box and taking new risks...

Summer’s over and the busiest fundraising season of the year is right around the corner. Are you ready? To help you get a jumpstart on your campaign planning, we’ve put together a checklist of things you can do now to ensure a blockbuster end-of-year fundraising appeal. 1) Start with the big picture. What are your…

Your chief development officer wants to tap into the endurance market. The CDO's expectation of this new event is colored by your organization’s experience with your existing peer-to-peer events. But, there is a missing variable. It is “market relationship” versus “social relationship.” Retail-attractive events yield market relationships for the most part. Retail-unattractive events (walks, for example) yield social relationships...

Have a fundraising challenge you want to crack? Weary of doing the same old, same old yet hoping for different outcomes? Do you want the over-the-top results that come from superior strategy? Email me with your particular problem, and I’ll arrange a quick consultation offering you a practical solution you can implement. I may even…

Arguably, your fundraising appeal is one of the most important parts of your nonprofit crowdfunding campaign. It’s the heart of your cause. The meat and potatoes of your mission. The crucial part where you tell supporters what your goal is and why they should care. You know your crowdfunding campaign inside and out. But, you…

University of California, Berkeley, and its Haas School of Business are launching an online "Philanthropy University" to help folks in the nonprofit realm with finance, fundraising, strategy, leadership and other challenges. A leading Saudi business executive and other unnamed funders are making "a multi-million dollar investment" in the project over the next five years, according…

Recently I spent a day with a team of passionate fundraisers discussing their fundraising program. The team had strong personal connections to both the organization and the event itself, and many had been working on the program for the majority of their career. In short, this was a dedicated and knowledgeable group. Unfortunately, the program…

What is your big vision? What is next for your organization? If you could double your contributed income, what would it mean for those you serve? Ideally, this should come from your strategic planning process. A campaign I was leading was about to hit its goal, and we had momentum to raise significantly more funds. When I asked the CEO what was next, there was a blank stare. They had not thought beyond what was a very obvious building need...