Recurring Donations

America's 200 million credit cardholders are better at accruing rewards than spending them. Last year, we failed to redeem about $16 billion worth of loyalty points, one survey showed. Apparently, what motivates us to get cards in the first place isn't the extras on offer. It's the simple convenience of having plastic when we need…

We all love a good crisis. Don’t we? No, you say? What did you do the last time you passed a traffic jam on the opposite side of the expressway? Did you slow down and rubberneck to check it out? What about that fire that you just happened to drive by? Did you park, get out and watch?...

You might have just read this headline and said to yourself: “I can tell this is going to be really boring stuff—I really don’t need to read or do this!” If this is your story, let me tell you a story. I have had two situations in the last few months where the major-gifts officers have refused to do the kind of planning and prioritizing I am suggesting here...

A New York nonprofit has pledged to redirect nearly $60,000 in donations received from Donald Trump over the years to anti-bullying programs across the U.S. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a nonprofit that fights anti-Semitism, will use the $56,000 it's received from Trump and his foundation in the past decade to expand its No Place for…

Every nonprofit organization has a mission that drives and defines the good work it accomplishes on a daily basis. Communicating that mission's message in a consistent way is the charge of every individual at that nonprofit. Whether coming from the national office or one of its local affiliates, there should be little variation in that…

At the most recent International Fundraising Congress, Dr. Adrian Sargeant, director of the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy at the University of Plymouth, and Roger Lawson, managing director of Revolutionise, presented findings from a study of five organizations in the United Kingdom that, combined, have 6.5 million donors. The goal of the research was to determine the greatest predictors of donor loyalty....

I have to tell you I’m tired of it. I’m tired of hearing from major gifts officers (MGO) who claim they don’t have donors on their caseloads that can give high five-, six- and seven-figure gifts. If you are an MGO with at least 75 to 100 donors on your caseload (remember, 150 is a full caseload), you have at least five to 10 donors who can give you gifts in the high five- to seven-figure range. ...

Donors are the lifeblood of every nonprofit, but retaining them long-term is an ongoing challenge. Recently, nonprofits have had success improving donor retention through recurring-donation programs. The benefits of recurring-donation programs Recurring-donation programs are a win-win for both nonprofits and donors. For nonprofits, they are an easy and effective way to retain donors and increase…

When one of my best friends lost her son to a form of pediatric cancer, I sent flowers, spent hours on the phone with my friend, and, when she became involved with a charity dedicated to fighting this particular form of childhood cancer, I became a regular donor. Years later, when my friend confided that she herself was no longer supporting the charity, I finally ended close to 20 years of support because of the organization's shabby treatment of donors...

With the new year comes a sense of looking forward and leaving the past behind. You’ve just finished the year-end appeal and will now gear up for the next fundraising project. But not so fast—sorry to say, your year-end fund drive is not over. It’s actually never over. Let’s talk about some of the reasons…