Fundraiser Education

Ever had a fundraising goal “handed” to you out of the blue? I bet you have, and you’re not alone. But that doesn’t make it right. I’m sick of development directors being expected to perform miracles. And that’s generally what’s happening when their fundraising goal is created without their input. When that happens, I know…

Too often, fundraising is made to sit in the corner while her stepsisters, content marketing and online communications, get busy dressing up for the marketing ball. Her stepmother and stepsisters think raising awareness is more important than raising money. They think all they have to do is look pretty, and they’ll get chosen. Nobody can be bothered to include Cinderella (aka fundraising) in the planning. If this strikes a chord with you, you’re probably working at one of the far too many nonprofits where marketing communications are considered the stepchild of fundraising...

During a site visit, a foundation trustee remarked half-jokingly to me, “We hate development people—we like to talk to the program staff.” I responded that, yes, I did too. It was the only way for me to learn and effectively write about our programming. Then I got to thinking about the whole divide between program staff and fundraisers...

The next 60 days promise to be hectic. Holiday spirit, tax planning and general procrastination collide at this time of year to create a perfect storm for nonprofit fundraisers. Charities need to embark on an all-out effort to ensure the maximum amount of dollars flow to their cause. Here are 20 things you can do right now to help ensure success next year and long into the future...

In the U.K., late September saw the publication of NCVO’s long-awaited report, "Charities’ Relationships with Donors: A Vision for a Better Future." Its mission is to deliver the single objective stated on its cover, "…Recommendations on how to enable donors to give consent," to untangle this complex area and recommend what charities should set out…

Sometimes I equate my blogging schedule to SNL. SNL doesn’t go on air because it’s ready to go on air. It goes on air because it’s 11:30 p.m. Similarly, I post a blog every Wednesday. I do it because it forces me to write on a weekly basis. I do it because I think consistency…

No matter if it’s someone from a volunteer-run organization or a nonprofit with fundraising staff, I inevitably hear this comment from someone: "I don’t want to ask people for money. It makes me uncomfortable." My reply is: "Then don’t." However, then you must be excellent at communicating why people should take action. You want to…

The first time you facilitate a training, you start developing your own personal list of tips for great facilitation. You try out some things that work, and they go on your list ("I can’t wait to try that again!"). Chances are you also try out some things that don’t work, and they go somewhere else.…

At what point after a donor has stopped donating to your cause do you stop mailing them solicitation letters? Five years? Fifteen years? Turns out, it’s ever too late to reactivate your lapsed donors—if you’re sincere about it...

When I introduced the Authentic Fundraiser, I talked about the need for a less traditional sales approach. In this post, I’m going to dig a little deeper into how professional fundraising professionals should be. People have been practicing acts of philanthropy to address social needs for thousands of years. It is only in the last…