If only there was an easy answer to our fundraising woes—too much to do, too little donor loyalty, too many unrealistic expectations. While I don’t have the final answer, I do have two suggestions based on science...
The spring-appeal season is underway, and I’ve been barraged with appeals for the last couple of weeks. For many organizations, this is their main fundraising drive of the year. Unfortunately, some of these organizations need a refresher course in appeal writing. Whether you’re planning a spring campaign or one later in the year, here are…
For some time now, I’ve been saying fundraising has changed more in the past five to 10 years than in the previous 50. It’s due to the digital revolution that fundamentally has changed business as usual—for everyone. Change is inevitable, yet change is hard. And nonprofits seem to have a more difficult time embracing change than their for-profit counterparts. Perhaps it’s due to the way social-benefit organizations are structured.
In 2000, children’s charity Barnardos produced one of the most shocking adverts ever for its Giving Children Back Their Future campaign. An advertising watchdog urged newspapers not to carry the image (The Guardian and The Observer defied the ban) of a baby injecting itself with heroin, and the charity swiftly replaced it with a smiling…
A sparrow landed on Bernie Sanders’ podium in Portland, Oregon and the Internet went bonkers. Within hours, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter were flooded with trending topics about #BirdieSanders. You Can’t Predict What Will Go Viral If I told you that a sparrow literally would perch herself on Bernie’s podium and light up the Internet, you’d…
A great-grandfather in the United Kingdom will be awarded a Guinness World Record for becoming the oldest person to get a tattoo at age 104. Jack Reynolds chose to get his nickname, “Jacko,” and his birth date, April 6, 1912, inked on his upper right arm, Metro.co.uk reported. “I’m a big, strong lad, and I’ve…
How can a small, local nonprofit simultaneously spread the word about its organization—and ultimately get more donors—with minimal impact on the budget? Tap local pools of talent. With a small staff, it's likely you have neither the time nor all of the expertise needed to accomplish your marketing, fundraising and awareness campaigns. As you tap…
We all know that mobile technology is changing the way we communicate, work and give. It only was a matter of time before the popularity of emojis, those cute little icons you see in text messages and social media updates, made their way onto the fundraising scene. Now, entire appeals are being written just with…
The nonprofit blogosphere is bursting at the seams with content created daily by a diverse and world-class list of bloggers—fundraisers, executives, consultants, agencies and everything in between. But there's a downside. How do you keep up with all that content? It's impossible, which is why we handpicked eight of our favorite nonprofit blogs to share...
It seems like you can't go a minute without some mention of the election in our 24-hour news cycle, which got me thinking, how does a brand compete with the deep pockets of presidential candidates for attention? This must be especially hard for nonprofit brands with limited resources. It's frustrating to me that many nonprofit…
