Fundraising Tips and Strategies.
Holiday Times are Critical to Development I know many fundraising professionals in the development industry that literally take the last six to eight weeks of the year off. They move into autopilot mode. They get off the road and nestle snug in the offices (and beds),...
8 Critical Fundraising Steps after a Catastrophe - When natural disasters strike, most "non-disaster" non-profits expect to feel the impact when it comes to giving. History indicates that non-disaster giving will dip 5 to 15% within 45 days of a catastrophic event....
I sat with another precious family today. I’ve met with more than 100 supporters over the last 12 months. I asked them if they knew how many consecutive years they'd been giving. They shook their heads no. I told them "27 years... thank you. You are so special to us!"...
The amount and timing of your next gift is directly connected to the way you say "Thank You." Rule #1: Thank Donors Faster. You can never thank a donor too much or too fast! I’ve encouraged charities to stop batching thank you receipts for the postal discount. They...
The fact is a big check can hide a multitude of problems. In each of these cases the charity thought they are seeing real, measurable growth with predictable, repeatable results. However, nothing could be further from the truth
Beware of the major gift guru who says he has the secret black book with the list of his major donor friends who will fund your charity.
“For clinking money, you can shake the can. For folding money, you should go ask for it. “
The next President of the United States will have to shift away from the traditional fundraising strategies which have been used over the last two Presidential campaigns. It will be critical to use “marketing integration” to raise funds and move away from silo’d...
Today, social media is producing primarily “One-And-done” new donors. While this kind of funding helps, it is very risky to build a future on.
Most nonprofits, like Sweet Briar, do not consider the fact that capital campaigns can hurt your annual fund and general operating budget, especially if annual fund donors are being targeted for a large percentage of the capital gifts. With nearly $200 million raised in Sweet Briar’s case, they learned the hard way that capital campaign donors will rarely give “twice” or release “restrictions” to pay for overhead and operations.
