Retention

A coaching client just told me a powerful story of following up. For about six months, he followed up with three supporters. Each had made small donations in the past of less then $1,000 each. After about five months of following up, one donor said he'd make a gift "this quarter." By "this quarter," he…

The donor made a $5,000 pledge, payable at $100 a month. She stopped giving, and the organization said nothing! This is an amazing story of ignorance and neglect. Ignorance in that a good fundraiser should know better. Neglect in that this good donor seriously was abused in this relationship...

Last week, I served my mandatory "American privilege," aka jury duty. I know all the arguments for why it’s a wonderful right we have in this country and how it allows us to experience in grassroots democracy in action. But it was a miserable day...

Fifteen years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, local military families face deployments to Afghanistan and dangers of war while organizations that help veterans, whose population here has boomed, face higher demand for services. Meanwhile, leaders say the fundraising power of 9/11 has diminished, leaving those charities to tighten their belts. "The need is going…

Fundraising involves a lot of asks. But not every ask needs to be a big one. The reality is, timed and designed right, tiny asks can reap big rewards for your development efforts. In fact, I think they’re actually one of the best kept secrets of successful donor retention. There are, essentially, two types of…

During a recent orientation session with two new major gift officers, one individual asked me to define the term “case for support.” He was very eager to learn what I thought about the concept. It is an essential part of the fundraising process, and I'm not the only one in the profession that feels this way...

Gift cards used as recognition are like wiregrass in my fescue, like a dog’s butt on my favorite pillow, like white zinfandel being the only wine served. There is so much wrong with using gift cards as recognition, and actually as gifts in any regard, that it’s hard to even know where to start chewing on the issue. I always have known it was wrong...

With the rise of laptops, smartphones, social media and more, nonprofits now have more tools available to them for engaging donors than ever before. The problem that comes with having so many choices, however, is that it can be difficult to figure out exactly which engagement techniques are most effective. To complicate the matter even further,…

You have a donor offer you a gift before you are in a pending major campaign. What do you do? The ideal result of ongoing cultivation and engagement is for a donor to say, "How can I help you?" It is important that you have an answer where the donor can be a hero and make an impact. And this opportunity needs to be in the near future to keep his or her interest, create momentum and honor the offer...

Nonprofit leaders have a valuable resource hidden in plain sight. It's their board members. Your board is not just for fundraising or decision-making. Its relationship capital is worth a lot more. It can help meet many of your organization's needs. Combine the connections your board members have built over their careers with the right opportunities,…