Podcasts are a great way to hear from the nonprofit industry influencers personally and glean some of their information from their numerous years in the industry. Many of them have insightful advice into the inner workings of nonprofits and how to do better at what they do everyday. But just as you’re making the world a better place, sometimes you need to make your world a better place...
Over the past 20 years, I have had my share of jobs and have started some fundraising offices within nonprofits as part of my consulting practice. As a result, I have gotten pretty good at figuring out the first steps when setting up your development office...
We’ve been working with major gift officers for quite a long time. I think Richard and I, along with our associates, have seen just about every type of personality, work ethic and passion, or lack of, in the MGOs we have managed...
While online giving is growing, it’s our assumption that donors are comfortable filling out their personal information into an online donation form and hitting the submit button. Then, where does that information go? For donors, that can be unnerving...
Every fundraising program has them: financial objectives, which are set and tracked internal to the organization. We also have fundraising goals, which we communicate to our constituents. I’ll call those “external” goals...
As a strategic planning practitioner, I love the process and the outcomes, but I am saddened when a well-conceived plan just sits on the shelf. From a fundraising perspective, a strategic planning process that engages key constituencies and great minds is a wonderful cultivation opportunity, and the resulting plan should give confidence to donors who might invest in making the plans a reality...
Storytelling has been "hot" for some time now and for good reason. Our human brains are wired for storytelling. We’re automatically open and receptive. So, you’d be foolish not to use this to your advantage when it comes to your nonprofit marketing and fundraising—especially if your goal is to raise money. Storytelling is not difficult once you get the knack of it...
What’s the first thing you think of when you think “capital campaign?” I’ll bet it’s buildings. Most people believe that capital campaigns raise money for new buildings. In fact, many people think that donors like to give big gifts for buildings...
I’ve been a monthly donor for many years. Two years ago, I did a little experiment: I joined 20 organizations to see what they would do (10 small and 10 large organizations). I wanted to experience their “thank you” process, their subsequent communication stream, tax letters, emails, lapsed recapture (if any) and upgrade process...
In July of 1979, I had my first article published in CASE Currents titled “Mini-Phonathon: Many Benefits.” The basic premise of the article was that you can use the telephone to inform, as well solicit funds. I worked at Florida International University in Miami and was the first alumni/development director for the university...
