Fundraiser Education

In October, FundRaising Success held its fourth annual Virtual Conference & Expo, a daylong, online gathering that allowed fundraisers to listen to and interact with some of the industry’s most respected and innovative fundraisers. Our closing session was a panel discussion focusing on things nonprofits need to think about and do to grow and thrive in 2014 and beyond.

Whether you work at a nonprofit organization or at an agency partner, would you like to know the secret to being more successful in your job and your career? Here are 15 steps on how to succeed in fundraising.

Here are things nonprofits should start doing in 2014, according to fundraising experts: keep an eye on the numbers, think about the second gift, experiment with raising money from the crowd, step up efforts to show impact, think multigenerational and take visuals seriously.

Fundraising experts offered the following tips to the Chronicle of Philanthropy on things nonprofits should stop doing in 2014: ignoring people who make medium-sized gifts, using social media indiscriminately, hoarding information, using generic language, fearing mobile technology and shying away from risks.

Welcome to a new year and many challenges. Before you jump on the treadmill, take a deep breath and determine areas of personal focus for the upcoming year. Here is a blueprint for you, though each personal SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis differs. It is always wise to evaluate personal progress as we grow in our career paths. Look in the mirror, and create your own template.

For nonprofits, the end of the year is often a time for reflecting on what worked and what didn’t during the previous year, and laying plans for the year to come. It’s vitally important that our organizations make plans that not only inspire, but that also lay out an effective fundraising strategy for our teams to follow.

Whether you’re writing a whole new fundraising plan for the coming year or simply setting up some basic goals for the next 12 months, here are four quick tips for better and more effective development planning.

The year-end can be a perfect time to reflect on your 2013 fundraising activities and to anticipate 2014. If you are a nonprofit CEO, board member, staff or volunteer, we have three questions to focus your reflections: 1. What have you done well? Reflect on your nonprofit's fundraising successes. 2. Which activities or strategies didn't meet expectations? Reflect on those things that didn't go as well as planned. 3. Were your 2013 goals realistic? Reflect on your goals and outcomes.

The second fundraising resolution that comes directly to you from the list of frequent resolutions made each year is “Get organized.” Ah — another great one for fundraisers!

If you’ve never made a fundraising plan before, it doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are six principles of a good fundraising plan to get you started. A good fundraising plan must have all of these things. 1. How we will raise it (the strategy). 2. Dates (when will this happen?). 3. Who is responsible (who will do it)? 4. Amount we expect to raise (the goal). 5. Amount it will cost to raise the money. 6. The net total raised when cost is factored in.

No matter if you’re scrambling to increase year-end impact or hoping to shape your 2014 plan to surpass 2013 results, jump in to these four last-chance marketing to-dos today: 1. Pinpoint where you are right now. 2. Execute what you can ASAP to boost 2013 results. 3. Nurture your relationships now to build support in 2014. 4. Refine your 2014 right-things marketing plan based on your 2013 learning.