The other day I received a solicitation in the mail from an organization I made a donation to a few years back. I have yet to make a second donation. Let me tell you the story. A few years ago, when I was finishing my MBA, one of my professors [...]
I saw a disturbing social media post last week from a fundraiser describing her planning process for her upcoming gala. "It's a fundraiser" her Executive Director said, "so that means that everything for the event needs to be donated." Venue. Food. Silent auction items. Everything. Like I said, disturbing. It [...]
Capacity matters in fundraising. That might be the most obvious thing for any fundraiser. People will give what they're capable of giving. But time and time again, organizations I work with talk about having trouble filling their major gift pipeline, upgrading donors over time, or making any headway with lapsed [...]
For the typical nonprofit, the majority of individual donors will send in their money during the fourth quarter of the year. That means we're quickly approaching the time when you need to have your database and procedures in place for the giving season. Use the slower period between June and [...]
Every nonprofit should be consistently asking its board members for gifts. 100% of your Board giving is a critical number for long-term sustainability. Your board should be your most rabid supporters -- they need to put their money up as well. Assuming you're getting 100% giving from your Board, are [...]
One thing I hear often from the nonprofits I work with is that they only ask for money a few times a year. "We have a spring Gala, summer Golf tournament, and end of year appeal. We have ten major donors that we talk to and a handful of grants." [...]
I've helped to manage my fair share of events: from small intimate dinner parties to galas that raise $200K. For the effort that goes into planning and executing any event, a nonprofit needs to be very pointed about what they are looking to achieve. My favorite ones are those that [...]
I was talking with an organization the other day who wanted to have a storefront to process their donations. They felt that with the prevalence of online shopping a storefront would be the best way to get donors through their site to give to their mission. Immediately, I thought of [...]
Are you asking how important your mission and organization is to your donor’s lives? […]
Imagine this situation: You have an upcoming gala you are preparing for. You’ve figured out you have a few tasks prior to the event (time to complete): […]
What drives change? We hear lots of different variations of why nonprofits are changing their donor management system. They often fall into three separate camps: […]
Large fundraising events can be fabulous ways to celebrate your cause and your mission. Too often, however, they are used as a main fundraising vehicle in an organization’s fundraising plan. While they can certainly bring in large amounts of money on one night, they come with steep opportunity costs that [...]