Fundraiser Education

June 1 marked the 80th birthday of “National Doughnut Day.” This day was established by The Salvation Army and is a tribute to the fact that, in 1917 and 1918, about 250 Salvation Army volunteers served American troops on the front lines in France, supplying clothes, support and baked goods...

Understanding the moral foundations that resonate with both liberals and conservatives is essential. If you want to cast a wide net, take care to characterize your mission in ways that will appeal to both. Once you understand the five foundations, you’ve cracked the code...

Where do you even begin? Don’t fret! Grant writing is not intimidating and provides plenty of benefits for your organization.

In my experience, nonprofits can be divided into two groups based on the organizational model they deploy: those that depend on a legacy model that depends on an established donor base supporting an entrenched institution, and those that take a more entrepreneurial fundraising approach...

When we seek fundraising training to improve our skills—and get better results—one of those skills is distinguishing between “saying” and “hearing...

For this blog, I leave you with the idea that Trump supporters, having overtly displayed their attitudes on Facebook, in interviews, in conversation, with yard signs, are now in a position in which the odds of changing their minds are close to zero...

The bottom line for you is to get out of the daily grind and attend a nonprofit national conference at least one time each year. Your academic and social batteries will be recharged and you will quickly realize others have the same problems as you. I bet you leave your conference inspired...

A nonprofit giving society offers an organization an excellent way to cultivate, steward and upgrade donors—which not only increases retention rates, but also boosts the lifetime value of those donors to your organization...

I have also heard through the years from a few former pro football players that the term NFL means “not for long.” What they mean is players do not typically play a long time in the NFL because of the nature of football...

First, learn who your most likely donors are, then plan how to reach them. The sort of fundraising training that many seem to receive is from the “ask everyone and anyone” school. This approach will raise money; it won’t raise the most nor will it raise it the longest, however. Why? Because you’re going to spend a lot of your time doing what I call “pandering to the ungiving...