“When you develop visit scripts, do we have to learn them verbatim?” the client asked. I was shocked. We develop scripts for every pre-solicitation and solicitation visit in a campaign. However, these outlines are not something to regurgitate word for word. They are outlines to use to become familiar with the flow of a visit...
Have you ever attended a conference or a course, but then failed to act on what you’d learned? Hey, it happens to the best of us. So, what’s a quick and easy shift you can you make today to ensure that you follow through on implementing those tactics you know will make your organization stronger (and keep your donors giving)?...
It’s well-known that the wealthy give less, as a percentage of income, than the less affluent. According to Ken Stern’s “With Charity for All: Why Charities Are Failing and a Better Way to Give,” the top 20 percent of earners give about 1.3 percent of their incomes to charity; the lowest 20 percent of earners give 3.2 percent of their incomes. How come?...
You could argue that a nonprofit needs money, talent, publicity, gifts in kind, etc. But why does it need these things? To get its mission done. And that’s a point that most people on the inside of the nonprofit forget, that the whole effort is about the cause, not the organization. This topic is one that every major gift officer and every manager related to major gifts must get straight in order for major gifts to be successful. Here are the major areas where this goes wrong...
You’ve got a little more than a month left before the bells toll announcing the end of 2015. For most fundraisers, that’s a time for balancing efforts—to end the year strong in terms of income, to use up accrued vacation, to be cheerful at the company party and to keep up on work so 2016 fundraising doesn’t fizzle before Valentine’s Day. Here are five ways to stay focused on what matters in these final days of 2015 while still having time for holiday cheer...
Ask yourself this: Do you have a specific plan for how much money you’ll be raising this year? Have you established a reasonable dollar goal for individual giving, for online giving, for grants, for corporate support, for any earned income? Or, are you operating like the senior center and just treading water? Be honest. Do any of these bright ideas sound anything like yours?...
As fundraisers, our jobs are to say, “yes,” and get others to say, “yes,” as much as possible. Think about it. Your whole job is to get others (colleagues, bosses, administration, program people, vendors, support staff) to say, “yes,” to donors. And that “yes” is so you can have your donor say, “yes.” Do you have the greatest job in the world or what?...
“I felt disappointed.” That is what one chief development officer (CDO) said when questioned about the budget he had been assigned. This CDO had presented a revenue budget to his CEO that was reality-based, taking into account what was in the pipeline and measures for growth. What he got back was a number that was more than two-and-a-half times the 10 percent growth the organization had attained in the prior year. Why would a CEO assign a revenue budget that the person in charge of revenue feels is unrealistic?...
Nonprofits, those organizations that look to the goodwill and generosity of others for their very continuance, have a direct and powerful need to be thankful. Telling your supporters at Thanksgiving you appreciate them is just fine. Communicating gratitude without even telling them hits it out of the park. How do you do this?...
As the use of digital marketing continues to evolve and expand within the nonprofit industry, fundraising executives are demanding more integration within their marketing, communication and fundraising solutions. The key point of distinction is nonprofits that wish to implement integrated fundraising strategies must first think of their constituents rather than the communication tactic itself...
