If you’ve been following the weather, you may know that it’s been a rough few weeks, especially in New England. In Massachusetts, we were hit by our second Nor’easter within 10 days; and this last one was really bad. Snow was falling at one to two inches an hour, and the many downed trees caused power to be out for 99 percent of our area...
How often do you think about your current job and look back on your nonprofit organizational stops? I suggest you do an analysis on this area, especially if you have many jobs ahead of you. If you spend at least a third of each day at work, I assume you would like to enjoy the daily experience...
Fundraising is never easy and more than ever, nonprofits are facing tougher challenges. The fundraising landscape has become more crowded, but less abundant. We’re seeing a steady increase in visibility of charities—more crowdfunding platforms, campaigns for natural disasters, tragedies and political action groups...
On occasion, I get called in to discuss planned giving options, especially for smaller organizations. Often, they want to attempt to roll out a planned giving program without first laying the proper groundwork. In football terminology, start with basic “blocking and tackling...
One of the main tools that we use to motivate people is recognition. Recognition can be delivered in many forms, so deploying recognition for maximum effect takes planning and strategy. One component is almost always the use of email. Recognizing people personally with email is inexpensive, and its effects are measurable...
According to the “2018 Nonprofit Leadership Impact Study” released by NonProfit PRO and MobileCause, “Donor loyalty is a priority area of focus for nonprofits, which was rated as the most important outcome when measuring their organization’s annual success.” Retaining donors is a big deal...
When you run a nonprofit, fundraising events are the face you show to the world. Not only do they provide vital funds, but fundraisers also put a nonprofit's mission and purpose on a stage for your community to discover and explore...
Today, I want to get positive and practical, and talk about the anatomy of a great major gift job description. You may find these suggestions simple—and that’s fine. One thing for sure, they are not simplistic; a good job description is complex and serious, but that does not mean it needs to be long and detailed...
Nonprofits never cease to amaze me. Sometimes in a good way. Sometimes in a not so good way. This is one of those sad case studies. I spoke to an organization recently, and its executive director told me they wanted to grow their monthly donor program—at least, that’s what he said at first...
I was recently home taking a vacation day from work when I received an email from the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The email said that my Indiana Chapter membership was renewed until 2019. I was thanked by the organization that serves 33,000 individual fundraisers in more than 250 chapters throughout North America and worldwide...
