Fundraiser Education

I (Katrina) have had several 10,000-hour thresholds in my career. I started my company, Turnkey, in 1989, so my first 10,000 hours happened around 2007 or so. By that time, while certainly not having achieved genius-level competence...

We are huge proponents of video—carefully planned video with a clear objective. In most campaigns that are focused on major gifts, we are not big fans of a fundraising video, unless there is a reason that prospective donors can’t see impact of the client’s work firsthand...

On June 5, the unanimous Supreme Court ruled that church-affiliated hospitals are exempt from complying with the Employee Retirement Security Act, a federal law that sets minimum standards for retirement, health and other benefit plans for the protection of employees and employers...

To achieve victory, a capital campaign must be won on paper before launched on the streets. Hiring fundraising counsel to conduct a campaign feasibility study is a proven and prudent way to ensure campaign success...

Modern technology allows us to easily collect and analyze data, as well as gain valuable insights from it. This capability is now available to nonprofits of virtually any size and type and can be tremendously effective at helping them reach people, grow their organization and meet their other goals...

I’ve been engaging donors to support important mission work, special projects and big galas for a few years now, and I have noticed the use of the word “philanthropy” instead of “fundraising.” It is not a bad approach, but it has the potential to shift many attitudes for varied reasons...

Fundraising success depends on two things: Innovation and one-of-a-kind human connection. By maintaining a balance of these two things, you will continue to engage the donor, have a great relationship with the donor and will keep the donor interested in your organization (which means they will keep coming back)...

This week, we received lots of love on our April cover story about donor-advised funds, followed by Pamela Barden's blog post, where she shares three things to consider when fundraising is no longer "fun," and Pamela Grow's blog post, where she shares her thoughts on donor-centricity vs. community-centric fundraising...

Last month, the NonProfit PRO team attended the 2017 Association of Fundraising Professionals’ International Conference, which took place in the beautiful city of San Francisco. While we walking around the exhibit area, we saw something that caught our eyes—a diversity board! The Alford Group, a professional consulting partner helping board leaders, organizational management and community…

It is true that people give to people. If you are interested in a long and satisfying career in fundraising, get out of the office and engage others. You will be amazed at what you’ll learn about others and yourself...