Have you strategically planned?
Throughout my career, I have found that it is oftentimes not fund development issues that impact the effectiveness of fundraising, but, larger organizational ones.
After doing many development audits and assessments, I can say that the top…
Will I raise money with donor acquisition?
I often get asked by nonprofit organizations, what is the value of conducting a donor acquisition campaign?
Well, if you are looking to make money, you probably will not at first.
Donor acquisition mailings frequently do not pay for themselves.…
How do you make new donors feel welcome?
If you say you don’t then you are missing out.
Donors are like members of our family and they need to be treated like such.
A welcome package for new donors is a great way to make them feel welcome and to show them that you are happy that…
It’s elementary my dear, building your elementary school alumni effort!
I was recently approached by my local Catholic elementary schools to put together some thoughts about building an alumni base that could possible provide scholarship fund assistance.
Some elementary schools have very robust elementary alumni…
Budget cuts, oh budget cuts…how fair art thou?
It seems everywhere I turn these days, I hear of more budget cuts heading down the “turnpike” of non-profit funding. Just today, I read about the MA state House Committee on Ways and Means proposes yet another $1.2 million cut to arts, sciences…
How to attract donors to give on your website.
I am often asked questions about donation catchment pages for non-profit websites.
The questions range from: How can I make my donation catchment page on my website more appealing to donors? How can I get donors to take action once they are…
The fundraising consultants top ten list!
Consultants play multiple roles in fundraising. Here is the top ten list!
1. Facilitator
2. Strategist
3. Coach, mentor, and cheerleader
4. Educator and informational expert
5. Problem solver
6. Partner
7. Communicator
8. …
What is fund development?
Fundraising. Development. More often than not, when people hear these terms, their reactions range somewhere on the spectrum from “necessary evil” to “begging” to “selling.” In other cases, these terms conjure up notions of…
Where do you begin with Major Gifts?
The elusive major gift. The amount is different for each organization. Some organizations might consider a major gift as $500 while others would consider one at $50,000.
Whatever your major gift level is, the process to establishing a program…
80/20 rule and no not for major gifts!
What does the Pareto Principle have to do with fundraising?
We oftentimes hear one say, that 80% of the gifts will come from 20% of the donors. Today, in fact, that is more like 90%/10%. But the Pareto Principle applies to much more than just…
Do you have a long-range fund development strategic plan?
Are you operating your fund development without a long-range strategic plan? If so, you might be operating from a reactive crisis-driven position rather than a proactive visionary one. And, that in the long-term will hamper your fundraising…
A culture of philanthropy
Do you often time feel unsupported in your fundraising work?
Does all of the program staff look at you with blank stares on their faces when you report your success?
Do your board members have high expectations for you to bring in the money?
Are…
