I recently met with a major donor to a rescue mission who has given over $25 million to his favorite charities over the past few years. Amazingly, he’s 80 years old and still working every day. In fact, he travels to China every month to oversee one of his new...
December has changed for most non-profits, we have just experienced the biggest decline for a December in more than a decade. Volatile stock markets at year end; combined with expensive, divisive political campaigns and new tax implications from one year to the next are forcing most non-profits to rethink the giving calendar. Is this the new normal?
Remember, donors do not give to case statements… they give to people. More specifically, they give to people who are listening to them and are able to identify needs that touch the donor’s heart
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),...
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
One half of all donations received by charity in America occur in the 4th quarter (now the real stats… ) and one half of those gifts are received in the month of December and one half of those gifts occur the last week of December and one half of those gifts happen the last day of December and one half of those gifts happen between 3 and 9 pm on the 31st of December.
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. “
