Recurring Donations

A healthy ecosystem relies on recurring donors — ones that give as much as they possibly can to the organizations they support.

I just came back from a conference in New Orleans. It was my first time visiting, so I had planned a little bit of time to see the sights and “soak up the culture.” It inspired me to write about monthly donor motivation...

Fundraising seems pretty simple, doesn’t it? You ask for money, you get money. Unfortunately for us, that’s not the way it works.

If you work for a U.S. charity, you might have noticed a positive change in affairs. Yep, donations have gone up in recent years. According to Giving USA’s most current report on philanthropy, annual charitable donations reached a new high of $390 billion in 2016, with individual giving increasing 4 percent across the board. That’s good news for everyone...

If you work for a U.S. charity, you might have noticed a positive change in affairs. Yep, donations have gone up in recent years. According to Giving USA’s most current report on philanthropy, annual charitable donations reached a new high of $390 billion in 2016, with individual giving increasing 4 percent across the board. That’s […]

You’ve probably seen the stats. According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, retention across the U.S. is 46 percent—and about half that for new donors! You work too hard to have more than half your donors disappear, never to be heard from again...

Dialogue with your donors, clients or prospects begins with good data; we all know that one tenet of direct mail—garbage in and out. When we go to the mailbox, a treasure trove of information on fun, as well as vital information, awaits us. Some good, some bad and at most, lame or even useless...

I’ve always found it curious that while many organizations diligently develop a strategic plan, few take the time to craft a sustainability plan. By “sustainability” I don’t mean the environmental kind, but rather a plan for sustaining your programs and services over the long-term...

In a previous blog post, I briefly examined what appears to be a growing sentiment in the nonprofit industry that direct mail fundraising is somehow flawed. Fundraisers have been slow to abandon outdated business practices or to evolve quick enough to react to the mounting challenges facing nonprofits today—and yes, there are many that we must overcome...

Ask your Magic 8-Ball about the state of charitable giving in the next few years, and there’s a good chance it’ll tell you “outlook good.” As long as it’s getting its info from Marts & Lundy and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, that is...