I eagerly read every new article and exhibit from the Showcase of Fundraising Innovation and Inspiration. However, the article, “9 Tips for Effective Emails,” made me pause. Oh, yes, I agreed with the author, Nick Allen, on most of the points. Yet there were a couple of tips I found missed the mark, and one in particular I thought was outright bad advice...
I was so impressed with the way my colleague Sharon Kerr, who works for The Salvation Army in California, organized and rallied her program people that I had to pass it on to you to copy and use, with her permission...
All of us constantly are interacting with representatives from foundations, corporations, associations, organizations and families. Each contact is different, and long-term success depends on initial interactions and subsequent personal activities. Have you ever taken the time to look at your prospects and match them with your staff based upon personality and potential fit? If not, and if possible, I strongly suggest you look at these linkages...
Strategic planning is a passion of mine. It is energizing and rewarding to provide the tools and resources for a client to determine his or her future. My first foray into strategic planning was when I was leading a capital campaign that would hit goal and had the ability to overachieve it by far...
I spoke at a client’s conference this past winter. I was in Little Rock, Ark., with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) at its leadership conference. After my return home, I received a handwritten thank-you note from Nicole Dolan, my client and one of the organizers of the meeting...
What is happening out there? I’m seeing too many major gift officers (MGOs) who play small, do enough just to get by, and seem to want to drift through their careers just long enough so they can retire and head to Florida. How did this happen? I just want to take these good people (and,…
When you have been in the nonprofit business as long as I have, you have seen everything. I have been to countless meetings, lunch appointments, seminars, dinners and various events. In the nonprofit world, you typically react to someone’s act. We all strive for the end result, whatever that turns out to be in the long run. I can wait forever if, in the end, it results in large quantities of time, talent or treasure for the institution I represent...
We also are seeing a lot of fundraising "tourism" these days. You know—the drive-by attempts at raising money. Don’t get me wrong. It’s fun being a tourist. It’s about being entertained. It’s about feeling as though you’re "really" in the experience. When you’re seeking to raise serious resources for serious causes just cruising by doesn’t cut it, however...
This week I was visiting with a great mentor—an incredible philanthropist, board member and fundraiser. We are both fans of a friend who recently left a university where the president did not allow anyone else to engage with its top donors and prospective donors...
For some time now, I’ve been saying fundraising has changed more in the past five to 10 years than in the previous 50. It’s due to the digital revolution that fundamentally has changed business as usual—for everyone. Change is inevitable, yet change is hard. And nonprofits seem to have a more difficult time embracing change than their for-profit counterparts. Perhaps it’s due to the way social-benefit organizations are structured.
