Face it. There are lots of worthy causes for donors to support. I’m sure yours is a good one too, but… you’ve got a big problem. Once you manage to acquire, or even renew, a donor, how are you going to win them back again? How are you going to [...]
Everyone involved with you deserves your gratitude. After all, without them you’d have no purpose. The key to showing meaningful gratitude is to think specifically about what you’re grateful for. And this will be different, both for different segments of donors and even for specific individuals within those segments. You [...]
There’s no busier time for fundraisers than the last quarter of the calendar year. So much needs to get done this time of year it should be easy to find more than one way to involve each board member. And there are numerous ways board members can help without making [...]
In Part 2 of this three-part series on board giving and getting we reviewed four strategies to leverage board giving and getting. What we didn’t cover is how to deal with situations where pre-conditions to successful board fundraising are not in place. In other words, board members have not been [...]
You can’t get board members to effectively ask for philanthropic gifts until they’ve made their own passionate gift. Once your board member has acted on the passion they feel towards your cause, it’s time to talk with them about how to leverage their giving by asking others to join them. [...]
Get 100% of board members to give at a passionate level. This should be your pre-eminent goal as you enter into year-end fundraising season –the time of year when most folks feel peak generosity. However, just feeling in a giving mood won’t necessarily translate to philanthropy. Most significantly, it won’t [...]
What makes a fundraising appeal, well, appealing? The last six weeks of the calendar year are make-or-break time for nonprofits. In fact, nearly 30% of nonprofits raise 26% to 50% of their annual fundraising in November and December – when people are feeling their most grateful and generous. As the [...]
I receive a lot of questions about annual fundraising appeal best practices. You’ll find a lot of tips in this free, downloadable “Annual Appeal Checklist.” But today let’s look at some of the thornier questions I receive. Q. What if your mailing list isn't really that great? A. There’s no [...]
Ultimately, the goal of every appeal letter is to get a resounding “Yes!” With the right number of positive responses to your annual fundraising appeal letter, you can get the support you need for your mission. You could even surpass your short-term goals, giving your nonprofit the ability to focus [...]
The last six weeks of the calendar year are make or break time for nonprofits. In fact, nearly 30% of nonprofits raise 26-50% of their annual fundraising in November and December – when folks are feeling their most grateful and generous. So you really want to be firing on all [...]
In 1984 Robert Cialdini wrote a groundbreaking book, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, outlining principles of influence that affect human behaviors. Today these principles have been well documented. Trail-blazing research added by behavioral scientists like Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky supports and expands on Cialdini’s principles. No matter how much technology advances, the triggers [...]
While some donors upgrade their giving without being asked, most donors wait to be asked – or at least to be offered a darn good reason to give more. In Part 1 of this three-part series – your “Donor Upgrade Roadmap” -- we took a deep dive into monthly giving [...]