Annual Campaigns

Last year, I gave you five priorities for success in 2016. I called them “Dive the Five.” This year, I’ve expanded my thinking a bit. I give you “Seven is Heaven.” I promise if you focus on these fundamental areas, you will hear the angels begin to sing and your mission will take wing. Some of these areas will seem familiar, but the way you employ them may need to be tweaked in order for you to survive and thrive...

You’re in the midst of year-end appeal season, and you’re feeling overwhelmed. Have you forgotten a critical component of your campaign? I’ve encountered the forgotten, and it’s not pretty. I’ll explain it to you like this: Recently, I made an online donation to a local arts organization. Fortunately, yes, contrary to many instances, I did receive a thank-you letter, even if it wasn’t the most prompt delivery. The letter arrived approximately four weeks after I made my gift...

A process is "a systematic series of actions directed to some end." The process in strategic planning, for example, can even be more important than the resulting plan. If you conduct planning as a process and not an event, have a proven outside facilitator and let the process work without a leader trying to control it (after all a plan is about the organization, not one person), the results are phenomenal...

I’m not a particular fan of Giving Tuesday. In my experience as a staffer, I found it a time-suck. Worse, if your organization doesn't have a strong community profile (a “best-kept secret”), it’s time spent building recognition for Giving Tuesday, not for your organization. And of course, it doesn’t always raise much money, either. Tom…

The end of the year will be here before you know it! Are you working on your year-end appeal? Crafting fundraising appeals and end-of-year campaigns is not rocket science, but you do have to adhere to certain guidelines if you want to achieve blastoff. So, here come some guidelines!...

Do you have a plan in place to meet your year-end fundraising goals? Just imagine: The average nonprofit raises more than 40 percent of its annual revenue during the last quarter of the calendar year. Start getting ready for year-end fundraising with the following tips you can start implementing now...

Yes, your board members can boost year-end fundraising way over your goal this fall. How? There are easy jobs they can do and roles they can play to help meet and even exceed your fundraising goal this year. The things that board members do can make all the difference to your fundraising—and to your donors.…

The other day my daughter and I were walking down an aisle in a department store, and she noticed a huge Halloween products display. "Oh come on!" she said. Too soon. I agreed, and we had a laugh about how I forbid holiday music until after Thanksgiving. Ah, the apple doesn’t fall far from the…

Year-end annual fundraising is when the rubber meets the road. This is the time for creative fundraising campaigns! There’s tons of money at stake this fall. It’s the generous time of year, when donors think about giving. Donors give more, especially in December and the last days of the year...

OK, why am I talking about year-end? It’s August! Well, because that’s how our weird world of fundraising works—at least for direct response. I started presenting holiday campaign ideas to my clients back in July. Literally Christmas in July. That’s what makes the world of direct response marketing agencies extra weird. Because of the lead…