Mistakes are inevitable, how a fundraiser responds to those errors is what can really set the organization apart. Instead of spending all our time on looking for someone (anyone but me!) to blame, our first priority needs to be our donors...
By now, you know the tremendous power monthly donors have. You know how it can help improve your donor retention to much higher levels. We typically see monthly donor retention rates between 87 percent and 95 percent—that’s double that of one-time donors...
Your donors are not ATM machines and people you only communicate with when you need money. They are your partners, and you can’t do your work without them. Seeing your donors as your partners will help you with your donor relations and donor communication. Always keep your donor in mind. Show your donors how they’re…
Monthly giving is seeing double-digit increases in year-over-year growth, and for good reason. Nonprofits depend on a continuously scalable base of donors and revenue to fund their important missions and services. Among the many options in an organization’s fundraising portfolio, monthly giving offers a more reliable, steady income stream that is resilient to economic ups and downs...
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...
My mother was known for having impeccable manners. At her memorial service, it seemed as if every other person who shared a memory talked about her manners. They did so not in a nitpicking way, but in a loving way. It seemed she always knew just the right thing to do to show her appreciation...
A few weeks ago, NonProfit Pro shared an interesting NACHA case study on the long-term retention of those donors who give automatically through their bank account, also called EFT, Direct Debit, Direct Payment via ACH or automatic bank withdrawal...
A prompt, personal thank you is a beginning. Yet it won’t have lasting effect. You must go above and beyond the “donor receipt”—even if you know how to write a killer donor-centered "thank you" letter...
FrontStream recently announced the launch of Panorama, an integrated fundraising platform that includes FirstGiving and Artez for peer-to-peer and online fundraising, BiddingForGood’s online and mobile auctions and GiftWorks Cloud, the company’s donor database...
One of the toughest challenges in our sector is getting donors to give time and time again—to get one-time donors to become repeat donors. Perhaps it’s showing donors the impact that the organization is making or having a mission powerful enough for donors to want to be a part of the organization. Perhaps simplifying the…
