As the chief development officer you must empower your board with the knowledge to raise funds (even if they think they already know it all). You must create an environment that is focused on creating new revenue, instead of simply cutting the old spending.
FIT Fundraising Articles
Fundraising Tips and Strategies.
WARNING. WARNING. WARNING. Beware of the major gift gurus “secret lists”
Major gift “specialists” who peddle their “black book” are a dime a dozen. I call them butterflies and bumble-bees because they move from flower to flower (organization to organization) and sting a bunch of people along the way.
The 50-10-3 Rule of Major Gift Work
Building real relationships with donors does not happen because by Facebook or by email or by a direct mail letter. Those channels are simply tools. Friendships are built only one way. They happen one-on-one, face-to-face.
What is Your Major Donor Lapsed Rate? Why?
If you build the relationship, the money will follow…if your contact with the donor is only about money it will not succeed. You major gift program consists of hundreds of individual donor plans.
The Challenge…. 168 letters a year
Remember, the charity that gets the donation each day is the one that is “top of mail box”. Which letter each day will get the donors attention… and touch their heart? To quote a famous civil war general, “He who get’s there the firstest with the mostest wins…”
DRMG? Is this a term your charity knows?
Direct response major giving (DRMG) may look similar to traditional major gifts programs. Both strategies use face-to-face meetings and relationship building to cultivate a major gift, but their are stark differences.
It’s That Time Again… New Year’s Goal Setting for Your 2012 Fundraising
Unlike most people who call themselves “fundraising counsel” I am not one who wastes a lot of time with grandiose vision papers and colorful case statements. Every January I encourage charities to spend more time on practical, actionable events rather than writing beautiful superfluous words about their organization and cause.
My Christmas Wish… Keep Our Tax Deduction
Even the famous miser Ebenezer Scrooge came to know the goodness of generosity. As Charles Dickens wrote, “Scrooge was better than his word.. He became as good a friend, as good a man as the good old City knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough in the good old world.” Before the President and Congress send nonprofits a lump of coal, they would do well to remember the lesson of Scrooge and preserve the charitable tax deduction.
4th Quarter Checklist – Start A Challenge Fund TODAY
You can use any major gift in the 4th quarter of 2011 to boost revenues in 2012, but you need to start RIGHT NOW. Remember that the majority of all major gifts happen in 4th quarter and the majority of 4th quarter gifts happen in the last three weeks of the year.
4th Quarter Check List – Cancel Christmas Vacations in Your Development Department
Stay open through the holidays. Have at least a few major gift officers in the office that can be making clean-up calls to donors that haven’t given yet this year and thank you calls to donors who make large year-end contributions. They’ll also be available for those last minute calls from donors who want to make gifts of stocks or other assets before year-end.
