Donor Relationship Management

Fundraising for your nonprofit organization occurs year-round as you build relationships with donors, host events and ask for donations. However, research shows that almost one-third of yearly online giving occurs in December. Capitalize on generosity this holiday season as you engage donors and boost donations. Here are 10 ways you can do that. 1. Create…

Several years ago, a news piece on a poll by U.S. Trust and Phoenix Marketing gave us interesting insights into the giving of the wealthy and clues on how to unlock their giving to your organization. Those findings are still true today. But let's add to the list of reasons the wealthy don't give more...

As Black Friday approached, I became very aware that our peak giving season is now here. For my organization, during the last four months of the year, we receive more than 60 percent of our donation revenue. I stopped for a moment the other day during lunch and wondered why giving at the end of the calendar year is so important...

I’m not a fan of #GivingTuesday. Don’t get me wrong, though. I do like the idea of it. Promoting philanthropy at a time of year that has become associated with extreme consumerism is a nice concept. While I have no quarrel with the idea of #GivingTuesday, I do have several problems with the reality of…

Great fundraising isn’t about you. It’s about creating careful communications that speak directly to donors, their passions and the positive change generated through their support. You know that what you do wouldn’t be possible without your donors, so you never want them to forget it...

I recently opened paperwork from a donor who left our organization a grand total of $6. That gift touched me as much as a gift many times larger. Planned giving (all giving, really) is never about the amount of funds given—it's about helping the donor attain the ultimate joy in giving. No gift amount should be too large or too small...

Like many readers, I’m sure, I made a gift to a nonprofit on #GivingTuesday. I gave online, and then I quickly received the auto-response email to acknowledge my gift. And that’s where the experience broke down. I see these kinds of auto-responses regularly. And they all have the same problem—the email accomplishes nothing significant...

One might think that evolution has little to do with consumer behavior—after all, our ancestors didn’t stop at Starbucks for a morning latte. But they carry into Starbucks the same DNA with which they ran around half-naked in the wild, millions of years ago. An understanding of evolutionary psychology can give us insight into the motivation of our supporters...

I first wrote about #GivingTuesday back in 2013, one year after its initial launch. It’s three years later, and my stance has yet to be swayed. I am not saying #GivingTuesday should go away. Its results have been successful and there’s no reason to think it won’t continue its ace track record of fantastic fundraising. But here’s what I am saying: If your nonprofit participates in #GivingTuesday, do it right...

You all know how much I love insight and data from studies. Recently, someone pointed me to the 2016 Donor Loyalty Study from Abila. There’s a lot in this document, and to really understand it you need to download the whole report. But here are some interesting elements about how donors view the content they receive from nonprofits...