How often do nonprofit events that aren’t billed as fundraisers turn into passive “wouldn’t it be convenient if you re-upped your membership/made an additional donation/took care of the next couple years’ worth of pledges?” conversations with coy development staff? Hard data is elusive, but it’s probably pretty often. As fundraisers, [...]
I’ve been preaching for 25 years about the importance of service quality in building donor loyalty. No, not the quality of service that your charity provides to its beneficiaries, but the quality of service that the fundraising team provides to its donors. Increasing donor satisfaction with that can massively pump [...]
Fundraising is the perfect job for hopeless romantics because being genuinely thoughtful and compassionate with your donors makes you a remarkably better fundraiser. Many of the charities I give to do an incredible job of making me feel appreciated. I reward them by making another gift and if I [...]
You know what is an unsung holiday for loving on donors? Valentine's Day. You know who is not expecting to hear from you on Valentine’s Day? Your donors! Why not surprise them with some donor love? I’ve outlined 21 ways to show you care including a spotlight on a couple [...]
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. Let this favorite love poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning be your template for sending a little #donorlove to your supporters this February 14th! Valentine’s Day offers the perfect opportunity for donor stewardship! And you’ve still got time to send a [...]
When I tell people I’m a fundraiser, they don’t often realize that working in the field of nonprofits is a thing you can do. And what’s more, there are many different flavors of nonprofit professional. Even fundraising itself has a myriad of sub-specialties. Conjure the image of a fundraiser and [...]
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 [...]
The short answer is all of them. But that's not always possible, especially if you have a high gift volume. Few doubt the power of thank you phone calls. McConkey International UK found that first-time donors who get a personal thank you within 48 hours are 4x more likely to [...]
Everything is digital these days. We’ve become very accustomed to this. There are e-cards, e-notes, e-thank you’s, e-checks and e-meetings. It seems like everything is viewed through a screen of some sort. Rarely do we ever actually hold something in our hand anymore. Now, this post isn’t going to go [...]
PLAN AHEAD. A strong donor recognition and gift acknowledgement program is a pre-condition to sustainable annual giving from individuals. If you don’t thank people properly, they won’t stick with you. It’s smart to know how you’ll thank and steward your donors before you ask them to give. Because that’s the [...]
The donor cultivation process requires the same openness and lack of pretense that we develop with our close friends and family. While the relationship may start off more formally, over time your goal should be to get to know this person, in the same way that you would develop a [...]