Sometimes I work with organizations that have endowments. And, these endowments scare these organizations as they consider fundraising. They wonder if having an endowment, some of them significant in amounts, will deter donors and others (e.g., foundations) from making gifts to them. While that may be the case for some, it doesn’t always need to be a deterrent. In fact, […]
The “warm body” approach to selecting committee members, always fails the diversity and strength test. Far too often, organizations will accept those interested persons without first determining who and what they need to best serve the purpose and expectations of their given committee membership. To build an influential committee, one must be strategic in who they […]
Development and Finance both report financial numbers to the Board of Directors, but sometimes the numbers reported don’t add up. Questioning Board members wonder, “Whose numbers are correct?” While embarrassing at times, it may just be that neither one is wrong. There are a few things that you need to undertake from a development perspective that […]
Developing relationship building strategies for your donor prospects So, you have the start of a donor portfolio. You have run all the lists, sorted them, and then ranked them. And now, you have your top two hundred donors. Do you start by making contact, perhaps sending a pre-call letter or even making a telephone call? What are the next […]
While the calendar may have just turned to the month of June, fundraisers are starting to prepare for their end of year campaigns. Now, the question is, how do you plan the structure of this campaign? What are the elements that need to be in place before you even develop your calendar of strategies? I […]
You have made the call and scheduled the meeting with your major donor. Now, the question is, what do you need to bring to this visit? Do you bring a brochure or a video, or perhaps even a PowerPoint presentation? I say you bring it all. What? And, it doesn’t have to be full of […]
If you have ever worked for a non-profit senior residential community, you know the importance that the residents play as a prospective donor constituent audience. It is they, and their families, who are the “warmest” potential prospective donors for the organization’s philanthropic component. Many have had such a positive experience, either through caring staff or community amenities, that […]
Cultivation events are great ways to begin to qualify prospective donor relationships and deepen already existing donor relationships. Cultivation events should be a part of any individual giving. However, when first getting started with a major gift program, most nonprofits often don’t know where to begin. And so, they don’t begin at all, leaving potential relationships left […]
Matching gifts offer an excellent way to help organizations raise more money to fund their missions than they ordinarily do on their own. This type of gift program gives donors a sense of immediacy and urgency to their giving. A matching gift can take your fund development program to the next level by providing a natural pipeline for […]
While there are some relatively simple measures for evaluating the effectiveness of your fundraising program, such as Return on Investment (ROI) and the fundraising numbers, you often need to go beyond that to determine the long-term health of your development program. And, it is these measurements that we most often overlook in evaluating the health of our development […]
According to recent findings in the 2018 Fundraising Effectiveness Project, The Agitator points out that “The warning signs are there – decreasing numbers of new donors and decreasing reactivation rates of lapsed donors.” We are apparently doing a better job with donor retention, but not acquiring new ones or bringing lapsed ones back into the fold. […]
So, you have an upcoming special event and you want to seek sponsors, and now you are wondering how to develop sponsorship opportunities that make sense and that inspire businesses to support you. Well, when I advise my clients on how to develop sponsorships, one thing that I urge them to do is to consider […]
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