The better you get at asking for major gifts before you plan a capital campaign, the more successful your campaign is likely to be. And, of course, the more money you’ll raise year-in and year-out. Here are three tips to keep in mind when approaching a donor for a big gift...
A few weeks ago, I wrote an article entitled “It’s Not Too Soon to Plan Year-End Fundraising.” While Dec. 31 seems far away (especially if you’ve used up your vacation time for 2016) in fundraising time, it’s just a blink of an eye. To help all of us prepare, I recently chatted with Bill Sayre, president of Merkle Response Group, about the back-end processes for year-end donations—making sure your donations are processed accurately and quickly so you can mail out your thank-you receipts in a timely manner...
The problem with the ease of communicating these days is, well, we talk too much! And too often, we aren’t really communicating with people who really want to engage in that particular conversation at that particular time. Before you move into the busy last four months of the year, take time to consider your donor audience...
I have two teenage sons, both in superb physical condition. As their mother, I feel empowered to set them to mowing grass, painting, sealing the driveway and other character-building tasks whenever I see them in repose. Likewise, it’s fun to put the bright young minds at Turnkey to work in similar fashion. A frequent object of my "what do you think" spotlight is Julian May. He suffers from the ability to write, which makes him a target. I asked him, "In your mind what’s the most important thing right now in peer-to-peer fundraising?"...
I can remember the day just like it was yesterday—that dreaded moment when my director of development approached me and said: “We need you to get an appeal out. And it should have gone out last week.” To provide context, I was a mere two weeks into my job and had been pulled off task so frequently that I still had no idea what this particular organization had done in terms of past grants...
A mega-grant from a mega-foundation always seems like the answer to your prayers, right? Not quite. The truth is, foundation giving plays a smaller role than you probably think. In fact, in terms of the entire philanthropic pie, foundation funding accounts for a mere 16 percent...
Recently I did a session on peer-to-peer fundraising at the DoGoodData conference in Chicago with Otis Fulton, Turnkey’s psychological expert. From that conference, we actually got the idea for a webinar on how to talk to your boss. As attendees talked, I kept hearing people saying things like, “Yeah, I could prove something all day long with data, but my boss will just ignore it.”
One trip, three brands and personal communication that went in opposite directions...
Three in every $4 are donated by individuals, according to Giving USA 2015: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2014. Given this statistic, it’s imperative that, as fundraisers, we master the principles of people-based marketing. The principles are based on the evolution of a single idea: By understanding the unique characteristics of a donor, we can build highly customized experiences that will drive increased giving, improved retention and enhanced donor satisfaction...
A dollar bill’s value is very different depending on the state where it is being used. So, are charities getting the most bang for their donor-contributed bucks? Because of the variability of the dollar, and the always-increasing need for programs and services by charities, one obvious solution is to stay ahead of the curve by continuing to increase donor gift size...
