‘Twas the week before New Year’s and through the fundraising shop, development staff were stressing that year-end giving would flop. The letters were mailed, the emails all sent, Phone calls were made, and on visits they went....
People talk about being in the moment. It is a very important lesson for fundraising professionals. Be alert. Be where you are. Be engaged with the people around you. It is essential in our business to do the same with prospective donors...
No one likes to be scolded. Yet most nonprofits make a practice of regularly admonishing supporters to give "where most needed." You probably think this is a good thing. After all, it gives you the greatest flexibility. Right? Wrong. You’ll have a lot more flexibility if you raise more money. And you’ll raise a lot more money if you stop thinking about you and your needs and think more about your donors and their needs...
In the day-to-day grind of the life of a fundraiser, it can be almost too easy to lose your motivation, lose sight of what you want and even stop paying attention. How can you not only practice enthusiasm on a daily basis, but communicate it to others in your organization in an impactful way?...
Major gift officers often ask Richard and me what do they need to bring with them when they solicit a donor? Many of these MGOs have crazy ideas that they have to bring elaborate and expensive pieces with them to “make the sell.” Videos, highly designed 20-page proposals, expensive gifts. We’ve seen it all. Let me tell you—you don’t need all that.
Want in on a little-known secret? Wealthy people aren’t the primary group leaving bequests to charities. In fact, according to the Institute of Charitable Giving, 82 percent of bequests come from donors with a net worth of less than $3 million. Planned giving refers to a charitable gift that an individual creates during his or her lifetime that will take effect after his or her passing. It’s a way for people to make a lasting gift to a cause that’s important to them. It can also provide tax benefits to the donor. ...
The fact is all of us work extremely hard to cultivate, solicit and secure donors but have trouble retaining these donors, a large percentage of them “gone with the wind” each year. So, what do experts have to say about donor retention?...
I heard a client struggle today in trying to figure out her organization’s value proposition. “What is it that we do that makes interacting with us worthwhile, something people can’t do without?” Being something that people feel they can’t do without is a high bar, but attainable. But then I thought, if I were selling high-end sneakers, would my athlete buyer respond to the same value proposition as my fashion buyer? Sometimes yes, but sometimes no...
Mia and spoke last week regarding her organization’s donor acquisition program for 2016. Mia is the development director for an environmental organization in the Northwest. As she reviewed her plans, two words kept ringing in my head: “advocacy” and “fundraising.” What struck me was how she seemed to be conflating the two...
Like many of your donors, I hope, I have been actively doing some year-end giving. That included mailing gifts to 19 organizations that had responded to my article earlier this year, offering to make a donation to the organizations of the first 10 people who responded. (I just couldn’t stop at 10.) ...
