May 15, 2009, The Chronicle of Philanthropy — Donors who participate in giving circles — in which individuals pool their money and decide collectively how to distribute it — give more than other donors, give more strategically, and give to a greater number of organizations, according to results of a study released this week.
Saying thank you. Recession or no recession, it’s one of the most important things you can do to keep more donors. Of course, you might already know “the basics” — things like thanking your donors promptly, segmenting by giving level or personalizing your letters. But there’s lots more to effective, engaging thank-you letters. And with the help of nonprofits from Toronto to Tasmania, you’re about to find out how much more.
If fundraising were a person, and he or she was on Facebook, I’d tag her/him with the nasty “25 Random Things” meme. We’d learn some surprising things about fundraising. But since fundraising itself is a mute nonentity, I’ve taken the job upon myself …
In a Forum for Fundraising webinar last month, Pat Rich, principal at EMD Consulting Group, outlined 29 recommendations for how organizations can gain donors and retain their donor bases, touching on everything from planning your program and acquisition and renewal strategies, to upgrading current members and creating member surveys.
Justin Ehrenwerth, Philadelphia coordinator for Obama for America, discusses his session at the Franklin Forum in Philadelphia in late April, which shared tips on harnessing the power of small-scale donors, grassroots volunteer efforts, technology and communicating with constituents.
Donors want newsletters. Research has told us so. But most donor newsletters go unread. In last month’s Forum For Fundraising webinar on creating highly profitable donor newsletters, Tom Ahern, principal at Ahern | Communications | Ink, explained the disconnect and the reader psychology behind it, told attendees how to speak to donors' personalities, and shared some key secrets behind great donor newsletters.
Before organizations can properly engage women as donors, they need to assess their own readiness and capacity for cultivating them.
Great news! Your organization made it another year without a major disaster. No one spent your endowment funds on gin and Jacuzzis. No one hacked into your donor files, and, as far as you know, your celebrity spokesperson still wears underwear when she’s out in public.
How are you feeling about that headline? What if I went on to say, “And I wrote a really good book about nonprofit marketing that you should definitely buy. It’s a work of staggering genius.”
When it comes to donor giving, what triggers big spending are benefits that convey social status and offer visibility through opportunities to connect with other affluent and influential people, according to new research from the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University.
