Most fundraising professionals know that having good information is the secret to increased revenue, stronger relationships, and more successful appeals. By analyzing the donor data you have available, you can learn volumes about donor motivation and behavior, then...
Fundraising is filled with things that seem to make sense, but don’t. One of those areas is when it comes to thanking donors. When we thank donors, we think we need to prove to them that we did great work. So we fill our donor newsletters with Statistics (we fed...
For decades, we’ve known that face-to-face meetings were the best way to raise major gifts. Talking directly to people. Taking them on a tour of the project. Being in the same space as the donors. Meeting face-to-face is so important, most major gift...
Did you read the “Outspoken Donor” article in a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy? I didn’t like it very much. But some of the donor’s experiences with fundraisers are chilling. For example, she says: “Development officers sometimes think...
So many fundraising problems can be solved by interacting with donors. Getting to know them. Asking about their interests. Learning their stories. I call it “seeing donors in their natural habitat.” But if you’ve had years and years of only focusing...
Private coaching clients have been emailing me the doom and gloom articles on the latest Giving USA report. Giving was up about $3 billion but when adjusted for inflation, giving was down in 2018. This should grab our attention. But not for the reasons you think. In...
