I participated in an event last night with many nonprofit communications staff, web developers, and SEO experts. I found it fascinating that I heard the same thing over and over – “Our nonprofit website is too wordy. We need to … Read More
I don’t know about you, but when I get a direct mail solicitation letter from a nonprofit organization that asks me to make a donation, my habit as a fundraiser (of course) is to pick that letter apart with a … Read More
If you haven’t started thinking about crafting a killer year-end appeal, you need to start that now. Why? According to a study by Blackbaud, 17.8% of all 2014 giving happened in December! #Giving Tuesday is a big day, … Read More
(image credit: created by Vlad Schmeisser , included in “Tag, You’re It – Now Raise Us Some Money.”) “Send that appeal, and they will donate.” That’s like saying, “Build it, and they will come.” It worked in “Field of Dreams” … Read More
Two items came across my feeds recently, and I wanted to share them with you. They demonstrate what I call “The Power of One.” One person, or one group of people CAN change the world. The first was a video … Read More
If you are new to major gifts fundraising, I have a secret for you! After you’ve sent your fundraising appeal by mail or e-mail, wait a week. Run your loyal donors report from your database, and CALL them. That’s right, pick … Read More
I’ve noticed some nonprofits have opted to stop printing an annual report and mailing it to their donors to save the expense of postage and printing costs. That’s sort of like saying, “Thanks for your gift, but we don’t care, … Read More
When I was new to fundraising and nonprofit work many moons ago, one of the first books I purchased was “Effective Fundraising for Nonprofits,” by Ilona Bray. I literally devoured this book in days. It became my “go to” book … Read More
Recently, I gave a seminar about special events to a group of nonprofit professionals. One of the questions asked was how to quantify staff time in the calculation of creating a successful fundraising event. Of course, staff time is important, there is … Read More
A great colleague in the filed and a superb blogger on philanthropy, Maeve Strathy (@fundraisermaeve) kindly published a guest blog post I wrote for her on being the “Chief Everything Officer” and how to delegate duties and manage your time when … Read More