Let’s begin with the too-often dreaded process of major gift solicitation. Whenever I conduct a board session on philanthropy, I come across big-time resistance to fundraising. People have a lot of deep-seated, negative beliefs when it comes to asking people for money. When asked to give one word that comes [...]
You can, and should, have a major gift fundraising program – whatever your size. If you don’t, you’re just ignoring the facts. Nearly 80% of all fundraising comes from individuals.Studies show over 88% of all funds raised come from just 12% of donors.Two-thirds of all household charity in the U.S. comes [...]
Wizard of Oz: A Tale of Prospect Identification If you want to become a major gift fundraising wizard, you would do well to follow Dorothy’s advice. There’s no place like home. You can find a lot of prospects in your own backyard. You just need to know where to [...]
Savvy fundraisers are moving in the direction of major individual gifts. At least those who want to be successful generating greater philanthropy are doing so! Why? TREND: The level of giving from small and medium gifts is dropping. So if all you’re set up to raise is small and medium-size [...]
Many nonprofits spend oodles of time developing their direct mail campaign. From theme… to text… to visuals… to design… to who the letter will come from… to envelope teaser copy… to type of stamp… to when the campaign will drop… to how many times you’ll mail… to how you’ll segment [...]
The end of the calendar year is make or break time for most nonprofits. Nearly 30% of nonprofits raise 26-50% of their annual fundraising in November and December – when folks are feeling their most grateful and generous. 30% of annual giving occurs in December. 30% of all online giving [...]
In article #1 of this four-part series on donor retention and gratitude we discussed the benefits of thanking donors in a manner that resonates with them personally. In article #2 we looked at what will make your thank you stand out. In article #3 we looked at how donor retention [...]
In article #1 of this three-part series on donor retention and gratitude we discussed the benefits of thanking donors in a manner that resonates with them. Personally. That’s what will make your thank you stand out, a topic covered in article #2. In today’s article #3 we’re going to look [...]
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 [...]