Are you inward-focused or outward-focused with your marketing and fundraising?
Some news we read or hear seems far removed from our jobs as fundraisers — but is that true? There are headlines that may not seem relevant, but they need to stir you to action so you can make sure your nonprofit avoids being the headline story next month or next year. Anything that potentially can impact fundraising has to be the business of fundraisers. You don't have to run it or repair it, but you have to understand it enough to give your donors assurances and to make certain it remains a priority for the organization. So what are these headlines?
The honeymoon period for nonprofit CEOs should be magical. It is the best opportunity for them to define themselves, including their vision and values, and paint a bright big picture that board members and other donors can embrace.
If your organization's style standards restrict your ability to create highly emotional messages, you’re leaving money on the table. Here are seven ideas that will help your organization develop branding requirements that will make your life a lot easier:
I admit it — if you follow these six steps you won’t have a model fundraising program in place. But beating your head against the wall until you finally give up isn’t a good solution, either. Start small and make sure everyone on the team knows about the successes and sees the positive notes and emails you receive from donors. Be the best cheerleader for fundraising.
Focus group respondents revealed a need for leaders to better configure the shared values, style, structure, systems, staffing and strategy within their organizations. The study’s findings were used to construct seven corrective action steps for nonprofit leaders managing the daily activities of charitable fundraisers.
Recent reports indicate good signs for 2014 fundraising. Despite the collective optimism for fundraising success, nonprofits must overcome a number of hurdles to get there. Here are some stats and three ways your nonprofit can drive giving gains this year.
Donors are recognized in many forms from handwritten thank-you notes to names on buildings. As the recognition level increases in permanence, the stakes are higher for potential problems.
True confession from this old dog — I hadn’t looked at the Donor Bill of Rights in a while. It seemed like a good assignment to give to students of fundraising. But it ended up being a good assignment for me, too. Maybe today is when you need to put some working clothes on your genius and read it over with a fresh set of eyes.
What is it about your organization that sets it apart from all the others? How can you show donors and potential donors that you are unique — even irreplaceable because you are doing something that no one else is doing? If you can’t show why you are different from everyone else, you’re going to have a hard time proving that someone should donate to you instead of another organization that does what seems to be the same thing.
