In 2016, there are five fundamental skills nonprofits must master to guarantee success in an overcrowded marketplace. Some of these skills will seem familiar, but the way you employ them may need to be tweaked in order for you to survive and thrive in our digitally revolutionized society. Other skills may be things you’ve thought about or dabbled in, but haven’t really committed to with serious intent and dedicated resources....
Wow. We have never seen an election cycle like this one. To some it is edifying, and to others it is quite scary. No matter what your political persuasion, here are eight fundraising lessons we can take away from this primary season....
If you work for a nonprofit and are a leader in the direct-marketing space, you need to be in N.C. in May...
The reasons for major gift officer (MGO) failure, other than the person not having the skills to do the job, are pretty basic. What I find interesting is that MGOs can simply decide to not let any one of these points be a reason for their failures. They can, literally, flick switches in their minds and make the decision to head in another direction if they want.
As his NFL career began in Indianapolis, I had the honor of working with Peyton Manning on a capital campaign I directed to build the St. Vincent Children’s Hospital, later to be renamed the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital at St. Vincent. I noticed early on that he always was prepared for every meeting, interview, event and activity. He was all business and knew his role...
It’s one week later, and two things haven’t changed. First, four of the 23 nonprofit organizations that I sent a year-end gift to still haven’t said “thank you,” and secondly, I remain convinced that a strong receipting/thank you program is a key component to building lasting relationships....
Julie reached out to me a few weeks back to share a situation at her health-related nonprofit. She began by telling me an initial blockbuster success her organization recently had experienced with its first attempt at seeking “major” gifts....
Consultants, just like other fundraising professionals, have a responsibility to treat donors with respect and hold any private information in confidence. Donor relationships are not meant to be transferred when a fundraising professional leaves one organization and goes to another. Likewise, they are not to be purportedly brokered by a fundraising consultant. Neither in practice is effective for very long....
Participants in a 5K show up because they want to run a 5K. While a rare few may have a mission connection that they are acting on, the vast majority are motivated extrinsically. They simply want a 5K experience—any 5K experience. These participants, for the most part, have little or no mission attachment. Why does the difference in motivation make adding a 5K to your walk a bad idea?...
There are multiple ways to analyze giving and charitable trends, but you can’t run from the findings. Give it a try. Can you run from this statistic: “Every 100 donors gained in 2014 was offset by 103 donors lost through attrition”?...
