Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co.

Many of our fundraising successes of the past can teach us about good donor communication today. The personalization, the passion, the inserts, the simplicity and the basics are never old-fashioned when it comes to good fundraising.

Not only do speakers at Engage reside over our in-depth cases studies and delve deep into attendees' concerns and questions, but they're available all day long to chat and further explore whatever it is the audience is looking to explore.

We get it — retention rates as a whole could be better, and increasing retention is an easy sell. Who doesn’t want to increase their retention? We read about it. We talk about it. We watch people wring their hands over it.

It's never too early to plan for the year-end fundraising season. With that in mind, Ellen Cobb Church, CEO of Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co., provided five things fundraisers should already be doing to make sure they retain donors and improve income at year-end 2014 in her column "Looking Ahead to Year-End 2014":

While the economy is not quite as rocky as it was back in 2009, turbulent times are certainly not a thing of the past. That's what makes the advice doled out in the session "Fundraising in Turbulent Times" at the DMA Nonprofit Federation's 2009 New York Nonprofit Conference still so relevant today.

The past half-decade has seen turbulent times for both the U.S. economy and the nonprofit fundraising sector. At the DMA Nonprofit Federation's 2009 New York Nonprofit Conference, three fundraising professionals shared quick tips for nonprofits on how to survive and thrive in turbulent times.

Before you get your Valentine's Day evening going, make sure and register for FundRaising Success' second annual Engage Conference — because it's the final day for the special $100 off early bird rate. You can register here and enter the discount code FSNews100 for this special rate, which expires at the end of the day.

City Harvest will be featured at the second annual Engage Conference. Read about City Harvest's expanded offerings in the July 2013 FundRaising Success cover story, "Full Course."

Announcing the 2014 FundRaising Success Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards winners.

The second annual FundRaising Success Engage Conference takes place April 10 in Philadelphia. Register today for the $100 off early bird special rate, which expires Valentine's Day.