Donor Relationship Management

If you work for an institution with donors and prospects who live in or visit other places in winter, you should consider taking your organizational show on the road to cultivate and educate them. What do I mean by that statement? When I worked at a university, we brought the university to its constituents...

The Baby Boomer cohort is entering retirement, but they’re not done leaving their marks. Boomers are set to give $8 trillion to charity, in the form of money and volunteer hours, over the next two decades, according to a Merrill Lynch study. Giving by retirees will account for half of all giving by 2025, said…

The most recent “Health and Well-Being Survey” conducted by Gallup provides alarming insight about the effectiveness of nonprofit donor-recognition efforts. Among those surveyed, 81 percent said they have donated money to a charity within the past year. In addition, 52 percent of survey respondents said they have volunteered their time during that same period. Given the high-level…

Did you know monthly giving has the power to transform philanthropy? A longtime staple of fundraising programs in the U.K., monthly giving is beginning to gain traction in the U.S. It’s a valuable tool, so now is the time for your organization to seize the opportunity to use it, and to use it properly. But monthly giving won’t transform your organization unless you go about it the smart way. This means figuring out the most important element of your monthly giving program...

I had known the principle all along, but my sympathy for the major gifts officer had persuaded me that it was OK to do. So I supported the practice of just showing up at a non-responsive donor’s door unannounced bearing gifts and glad tidings. This changed when I heard three high-capacity donors talk about their reactions to the practice....

At the most recent International Fundraising Congress, Dr. Adrian Sargeant, director of the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at the University of Plymouth, and Roger Lawson, managing director of Revolutionise, presented findings from a study of five organizations in the United Kingdom that, combined, have 6.5 million donors. The goal of the research was to determine the greatest predictors of donor loyalty....

I was a development/fundraising professional for more than a decade. I learned my fundraising chops by managing and soliciting segmented donor groups, like doctors and young adults, and also running community campaigns including telethons that brought out donors and community leaders to dial for dollars....

In many cases, nonprofit marketing involves reaching out, attaining new sponsors and fresh attention. With the help of the Internet and social media, businesses now have an endless number of ways to market to other audiences. While this is a vital part in the process of developing your nonprofit, it’s important to build a solid…

As a nonprofit professional, it’s crucial to know your donors. But sometimes that’s easier said than done. In its “Fundraising Advisor 2015 Benchmark Report,” Abila, a software and service provider for nonprofits, surveyed 270 nonprofit professionals on when and how they engage donors....

Fundraising is definitely not for the faint of heart. With so many nonprofits vying for donor dollars, fundraising—just like sales—can get quite cut-throat. One of the biggest mistakes fundraisers make is projecting this stress into their pitches. If you notice that you aren’t connecting with donors successfully, it is time to audit your fundraising strategy.…