Retention

In today’s fundraising landscape, there are not many donor groups as coveted as the Millennials. Due to the lifetime value of acquiring Millennials at an early age, Millennial donors quickly have become one of the most sought-after groups among nonprofits and independent fundraisers. And these nonprofits and fundraisers have the numbers to prove it! According…

Every day, your organization has numerous interactions with people across all channels. The experience of that interaction determines at least 50 percent of your supporter’s decision whether to interact with you again. So what is your organization doing to monitor and act on those experiences and ensure supporters actually support?...

I had known the principle all along, but my sympathy for the major gifts officer had persuaded me that it was OK to do. So I supported the practice of just showing up at a non-responsive donor’s door unannounced bearing gifts and glad tidings. This changed when I heard three high-capacity donors talk about their reactions to the practice....

I was a development/fundraising professional for more than a decade. I learned my fundraising chops by managing and soliciting segmented donor groups, like doctors and young adults, and also running community campaigns including telethons that brought out donors and community leaders to dial for dollars....

In many cases, nonprofit marketing involves reaching out, attaining new sponsors and fresh attention. With the help of the Internet and social media, businesses now have an endless number of ways to market to other audiences. While this is a vital part in the process of developing your nonprofit, it’s important to build a solid…

Take it from our peers in the field: Most communications and development teams aren’t communicating, cooperating or collaborating with each other. Team goals often are quite different, with the two departments sometimes working at cross-purposes, unknowingly sabotaging fundraising results. But there’s good news: This disconnect is fixable. That’s the solid-gold takeaway from the 1,600 nonprofit…

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…

If you work for a small nonprofit, you quite likely spend a portion of your week frustrated. You have great ideas, but they are often stymied by (1) a lack of budget, (2) a lack of time or (3) a lack of staff to put them into action. I confess I used to suffer from Big Organization Envy (BOE)....

When it comes to sending our receipts and thank-you messages, the most important goals should be “fast and grateful.” So kudos to every organization that receipted me—and did it quickly. The typical donor will see the thank you and probably file it away for taxes; it may not seem to make much of an impression, but research shows that saying “thank you” does matter as it is one more piece to building a relationship with that donor....

It’s one week later, and two things haven’t changed. First, four of the 23 nonprofit organizations that I sent a year-end gift to still haven’t said “thank you,” and secondly, I remain convinced that a strong receipting/thank you program is a key component to building lasting relationships....