Fundraiser Education

The day after Thanksgiving, the holidays hit full-force. And it’s not just the radio stations blasting “Here Comes Santa Claus” every half hour—it’s the shopping frenzies of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Thankfully, (no pun intended) for the past four years, we’ve had a day to shift the focus away from materialism and back to the true spirit of the holidays: Giving Tuesday...

Learn from others. Measure what matters. Start out right. Live out thankfulness. This old dog knows that it takes more than these four things to be a successful and fulfilled fundraiser, but this isn’t a bad place to begin for anyone new to the profession or looking to hit the reset button on his or her career in the nonprofit sector...

Just as many nonprofit organizations have one-size-fits-all fundraising appeals, they also tend to treat all their donors the same. “What’s wrong with that?” you say. “Are they supposed to give the big guys special treatment?” Well, yes—and no...

From 2015 to 2016, the number of nonprofit organizations with 50 or more volunteers increased from 55 percent to 76 percent. Growing numbers of volunteers could mean major benefits to the nonprofit sector. Volunteers are an important source of labor, expanding fundraising networks and saving many organizations thousands of dollars with their unpaid service...

For the first time on record, the nonprofit that received the most in donations in the country is not what you typically think of as a nonprofit—and that has some in the nonprofit sector worried that the new model is upending traditional philanthropy. Giving accounts allow donors to get an immediate tax benefit when they…

Big-eyed kittens and cute puppies are great ways to catch donors’ attention and play on their heartstrings. But sadly, we’re not all animal welfare groups, and we need creative that represents our missions and brands. There are many techniques and tactics that can help you make the most of digital marketing when you can’t rely on easy imagery...

Times have changed and so have the skills needed to excel in the area of marketing. If you are the head of a marketing team and/or fundraising team and you think through these five (or four primary) skillets, where is your team’s strength and where are the gaps?...

Do you remember my previous blog post titled “Stay or Leave? Pros and Cons of Changing Jobs”? If you’ve been in the sector for any length of time, you’ve probably experienced the following...

Nonprofit marketing has to accomplish a lot more with less. What works for business doesn’t always work for nonprofits...

On Apr. 17, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) offered its backing for a special $300 million fund in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to contain and eradicate future emerging infectious disease epidemics. “When an outbreak of an infectious disease occurs, time is of the essence. We learned a tragic lesson 30 years ago,…