Fundraiser Education
September 2, 2015 at 9:31 am
What is your big vision? What is next for your organization? If you could double your contributed income, what would it mean for those you serve? Ideally, this should come from your strategic planning process. A campaign I was leading was about to hit its goal, and we had momentum to raise significantly more funds. When I asked the CEO what was next, there was a blank stare. They had not thought beyond what was a very obvious building need...
September 1, 2015 at 9:53 am
Vu Le of the Rainier Valley Corps, calls out some of the most annoying nonprofit trends, including ignite-style presentations, popularity contest "grants" and the obsession with millennials...
August 28, 2015 at 10:17 am
Last summer, donating to charity momentarily became cooler than, well, almost anything. The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge ripped through social media, with users challenging friends and family to either raise money for ALS research or dump an ice-cold bucket of water over their heads. The viral campaign ended up raising an amazing $115 million for…
August 28, 2015 at 9:59 am
Poor Spock. He’s caught between his tidy Vulcan logic and messy human emotion. Most of the time, he relies on Vulcan cool. That wouldn’t work well for fundraising, though. Human beings don’t make purely rational decisions. This isn’t my guess; it’s science. We make decisions in the older part of our brains. They’re based on…
August 28, 2015 at 9:44 am
Otis Fulton, Turnkey’s in-house psychologist, notes that a retail-unattractive event fosters social relationships. A retail-attractive event fosters market relationships. While both types of events and relationships can produce fundraising income at varying degrees of expense percentage, you can actually really hurt your income and your relationships by mixing the two...
August 27, 2015 at 9:49 am
The conventional fundraising wisdom is if we only have the right map coordinates and secret handshake, we’re in. And so, our fundraising challenges will miraculously evaporate. Countless webinars, short courses and workshops claim to offer this treasure map. Well I’m here to tell you this tale is half right. It’s not the half you imagine, however...
August 25, 2015 at 10:01 am
Local politicians and Shepherd Community Center volunteers gathered in Hamilton County, Indiana on Sunday for a unique fundraising opportunity—a barn deconstruction. State Sen. Jim Merritt, Rep. Jerry Torr and Indianapolis mayoral candidate Chuck Brewer helped Shepherd employees and board members carefully take apart the more than century-old barn on 146th Street so the wood could…
August 25, 2015 at 9:53 am
The fundraising plan is at the core of successful fundraising. But what exactly is a fundraising plan? Is it a spreadsheet? A list of activities? A list of potential donors and funders? Our answer: It’s this and so much more. Here are four things to consider when creating your fundraising plan. First, your fundraising plan…
August 25, 2015 at 9:33 am
Facebook for Business announced in a post that it has added “Donate Now” as a call-to-action button available for brand pages. These buttons can now appear right on a Facebook brand page or directly within an ad on the site. “Now, it’s easier than ever for nonprofits to connect with people who care about their…
August 24, 2015 at 10:39 am
I have been tracking the journey of a donor, who is no longer with us, who gave a very sizable gift of more than $800 million to a nonprofit before he passed away. How can I be tracking the journey of a donor who has passed away? Because this donor not only gave the organization more than $800 million, he also left an estate of equal size to his kids, wife and grandchildren as well. And all of this wonderful giving has been managed by the nonprofit in a manner that is, well, amazing to behold...
