Every day your organization goes without an unfilled fulltime fund development position you are losing money.
Articles
Articles and Insights from the FIT Fundraising Team
Is Your Charity About To Be Hit By A Hurricane?
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....
Do You Have A Heart For DONORS?
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!"...
Can a Capital Campaign Hurt Your Non-profit?
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.
RFM Plus… The HOT New Way To Create MORE GIFTS!
Overlaying RFM with events at the charity is key. If you had a choice to mail an appeal to a donor who gave six months ago versus a donor who gave a year ago, but who had just volunteered, went on your website and just attended the fundraising banquet. Who would you pick?
Do you have an annual plan for measuring CHANNEL INTEGRATION?
Direct marketing today messages focus on the donors’ data, giving history and areas of interest to tailor communications to each individual or groups of groups who share particular interests. Annual planning for channel integration creates communications to actionable...
Show Your Donors Some Love – Use Feb. 12 to Say Thank You
Now is the time to let your supporters know how much you appreciate them. February 12 has been named nationwide on social media as Donor Love Day (#donorlove on Twitter).
New Year Gurus Wrong Again… DM Will NOT Die in 2014
Make no mistake about it, direct mail is changing. There are fewer donors using the preprinted DM reply devices and reply envelopes. America’s top non-profits are now reporting that between one-quarter and one-third of all direct mail responders use the charity’s web site as their response device. No other channel drives more gifts to your website than Direct Mail!
Don’t Let “Buddy The Elf” Fix Your Website in December
Successful marketing, even with websites, is about minimizing risk to increase opportunity. Remember, if you are like most charities, half of your annual income is at risk. So even if Buddy The Elf has a great idea to make your website more Christmassy… put Buddy in the mail room and keep him away from the computer screen.
What I am Thankful for… a year of thanks and giving at THANKSGIVING
I have sat down this year, face to face and personally interviewed 117 major donors. People with hearts that are so unique. People whose careers and businesses are not about amassing wealth. People who believe their purpose for living is giving. They have dedicated homes, careers and businesses to alleviate suffering, helping the homeless, feeding the hungry and providing clean, cool water to those who thirst.
