We regularly speak with clients about how they talk to supporters to activate or “prime” their identities as people who support their organizations. We’re often asked if reminding donors that they are a “donor” or a “volunteer” is a good idea...
A fundraiser asked me this question: “Do you need to send monthly receipts to monthly donors?”...
I know this is personal. This is about you, how you work and what you pay attention to. And this is part of your work that has nothing to do with strategy, the quality of the donor or what you have to offer the donor...
Mentorship is a two-way street. It should be a give-and-take process. Be both a mentee and mentor over time. Receive advice and guidance from those who have already been where you plan to go. Over time, be prepared to give your knowledge and experience to others by paying it forward...
We have a number of major donors in our database that, because of their age or illness have stopped giving, but over their lifetime have made significant gifts to our organization. I feel like we can’t just forget about these people, but what should I do?...
I love fundraising book recommendations and, as you probably know by now, I love reading (and writing) fundraising books. So here is a review of the book "Green Green," published by Civil Sector Press, written by Canadian David Love, who has been raising funds for more than 51 years...
It's important to get an overall picture of how your constituents interact with your organization and vice versa, as well as gather and analyze data about past peer-to-peer campaigns and events. Your ability to accomplish these things depends heavily on your peer-to-peer fundraising software’s ability to integrate with other key systems...
A meeting started out negatively with the finance person saying that a personal relationship with a donor doesn’t really count – it doesn’t positively affect the retention or contribution of that donor. Now, to be fair, he didn’t exactly say it that way. What he said is that the investment in a major gifts officer (MGO) was not worth the result in revenue in the first two years of the MGOs tenure — and that those donors were better off just being communicated with by direct mail...
Typically, we see clogs in that pipeline in the mid-level range of giving. Donors get stuck at a mid-level point of giving because even though they are giving at higher levels, nonprofits are still cultivating them like a $20 donor. So, the major gift program suffers because you’re not feeding major gifts a healthy diet of qualified major donors...
In fundraising, a donor parts with money when he or she perceives that the “price” being “paid” is worth what happens when the money is used. The donor is giving a sum of money for something, and it is right for him or her. What is right for the donor as it relates the amount you propose to ask for?...
