Are you using “the phrase that pays”?
A couple weeks ago, I got to lead a storytelling training with presidents of community colleges from around the country and their board chairs. They were a refreshingly lively group! As these board presidents shared, many of them told stories of students who’d...
A 2-step fundraising letter audit
With Thanksgiving sixteen days away here in the USA, it's a great time to do a quick 2-step gratitude check. Pull out your most recent fundraising letter. (You sent one in September, right?) Or your next one. (You have one queued up for late November/early December,...
3 Ways Google Plus can Drive Donors to Your Nonprofit’s Website
I was honored to see my 3 Ways Google + can help drive donors to your website featured today on MovieMondays. Clicking on the image will take you to the video. In this short video, I share why Google+ can be one of the most important parts of your nonprofit marketing....
Kindle Fire HD and Google Nexus 7 Giveaway Winners Announced
Ask Without Fear! turns 5 on April 1, 2013! But I'm starting to celebrate now. 🙂 Over the last few weeks, I've been emailing people on why fundraising tips email list and on Fundraising Kick and telling people on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ that I was giving away...
Donor retention: Dance with the ones who brung ya
Did you know the average nonprofit loses 7 donor out of 10 every year?! Indiana University's Adrian Sargeant, author of great books like "Building Donor Loyalty [Amazon affiliate link], has done statistical research proving this. But even ordinary, non-academicians...
Is announcing your goal killing your fundraising?
Fundraising is a funny thing. When combined with casting a vision, telling people how much you're trying to raise can be a powerful motivator. But could announcing your goal kill your ability to raise funds? Neuroscience and goal setting Watch this 3 minute video by...
How PBS can turn the presidential debate into fundraising gold
First off, I didn't watch the debates tonight. I find political debates to be more akin to rehearsed speeches than engaging in dialogue. But my Twitter stream was filled with tweets about the presidential debate. Tweets were all over the place. But Big Bird got a lot...
Want to drive online giving? Send a fundraising letter
Studies continue to show that online giving is the fastest growing fundraising channel. But not every nonprofit is experiencing this stellar growth. The best way to grow online donations So what's the best way to grow online donations? A firm called Dunham+Company...
Political junk mail can hurt your fall fundraising letters
If you're like many nonprofits, you've sent a fall fundraising appeal this month and you plan on sending one towards the end of the year. You might want to reconsider that plan. NPR did a great piece on political direct mail. It's definitely worth listening to, but...
Free Nonprofit Academy Telesummit
Last spring, I was privileged to be part of the first Nonprofit Telesummit. It was so popular, we're doing it again. This fall's Telesummit is being held from September 26-28...right at your telephone! Since it's free, you can come to one session or join them all. 12...
Lying to donors or good business sense?
There have been some pretty high profile news stories of direct mail firms and telemarketers pocketing 75% to 85% of the money raised for a charity. The latest was reported yesterday on NPR reporting on a Bloomberg investigation of InfoCision's work for charities like...
Fundraising Training in Lewiston, Maine
I'm honored to be doing a fundraising training in Lewiston, Maine today at 11:00. It's open to Chamber members and non-members. I'm sure you can pay at the door but since lunch is included with the price, I bet they'd love a call so they can have enough food. Call...
3 more contrarian tips for writing successful fundraising letters
Yesterday, I sent my Fundraising Kick members 3 contrarian tips on writing successful fundraising letters. Here are three more tips that seem to go against what we'd expect. These tips come from an amazing new book by Jeff Brooks called The Fundraiser's Guide to...
50% off fundraising training module
I'm honored to be part of the new FundCoaches.com! The creators of FundCoaches.com were frustrated with how hard it was to find CFRE accredited training that didn't cost and arm and a leg. So they got people like Tom Ahern, Simone Joyaux, Ted Hart, Marcy Heim, and...
Nonprofit fundraising for the one person shop
A few months ago, my colleague Pamela Grow released a new book specifically for nonprofits with a "one person" fundraising shop. This isn't just theory for her, she actually has been successful as a one person shop. So, since I love small shops-and even contributed a...
100 New Donors by December 3rd
It's September! How are your fundraising goals going? Could you use 100 new donors by December 3rd? I know that sounds like "hype" that a snake oil salesman would use. But this isn't hype, this a set of 12 action-oriented interviews for bringing 100 new donors to your...
Get over it and ask!
[Warning: rant in progress] Stop it with the excuses. The timing is never perfect. There are always reasons to put off asking people to support your nonprofit. And that is a sure way to get your nonprofit bankrupt. If your nonprofit is doing important work, people...
3 Ways the Lance Armstrong Foundation can Survive
Today's news is reporting Lance Armstrong's decision to not fight the doping charges. Many are saying he's basically admitting he's guilty. Herein lies one of the biggest challenges for nonprofits that are branded around a personality. Nonprofits with personality are...
6 funky ways to use your calendar
While I miss my old school Franklin Planner, I love the convenience of my Google Calendar. Over the years, I've developed some unconventional uses for my calendar. Here are 6 of them. Non-family birthdays: I'll start with the most banal first: birthdays. Whenever I...
Google+ is suddenly more relevant for nonprofits
Yesterday HootSuite [affilate link] announced support for Google+ Pages! Back in November, I blogged about Google+ being open for nonprofits. But one of the hardest things for nonprofits has been the fact that they have to remember to go to the Google+ site rather...
Don’t fire blanks with your email
It's summer here in the Northern Hemisphere. Summer can be a great time to take care of that list of things you were planning on doing "when you had time." Perhaps you could revisit your nonprofit's emails. Don't let your emails look like this Check out this email I...
FundCoaches: A revolution in fundraising training
I'm thrilled to announce the launch of FundCoaches.com! Have you noticed how hard it is to find high quality, extremely practical, and affordable fundraising training? That inspired me to work to make it ridiculously easy for people to get fundraising training. I...
Dialing for dollars (directions & fundraising script)
For many of us, June is the end of the fiscal year. Most donors could care less. But that doesn't mean we can slack off! A deadline is a great motivator. So even if it is a deadline that makes no sense to donors (donors think in terms of the tax year), it can still...
Building your nonprofit’s email list
Back in 2000, I used email to raise $100,000 in six weeks. I wrote about it in "The $100,000 Guide to Email Solicitation." (You can buy it in the Fundraising Coach Store but I give it away free to everyone who signs up for my free email newsletter.) People tell me...
[Question Marc] Striking out with grants
I am working for a non-profit and recently have begun writing agency grants as well. This organization in the past has never relied on grants, but instead on funding from two fundraisers and the state and federal monies. However, it seems that all of the foundations...
2 phrases to use when asking for money
I normally speak to large groups at conferences or to smaller groups of board members, but I've been privileged to do a lot of one-on-one major gift fundraising training this year. One of the most common questions I am getting from nonprofit employees and board...
The 3 best times to ask for money
Lots of us will be thinking about how to be more "green" since today is Earth Day. But how can we make our nonprofits more green? As in taking in more dollars? Ask! You knew that was coming, didn't you? Asking for money is where the magic happens! The 3 Best Times to...
3 Common Questions about 100 Donors in 90 Days
Since launching "100 Donors in 90 Days" on Monday, we've had many folks email and ask us some questions about it. There have been three main questions asked about the system, I emailed the answers to those on my newsletter list earlier today. But I figured more of you...
Don’t turn to the “dark side”
We fundraisers are a fascinating group of talented individuals. But this year, I'm seeing many of us talk ourselves out of asking for money, even when the donors have told us they'll give! I guess it should make sense: successful fundraisers need to be good...
Could you use 100 new donors in the next 90 days?
As the one-person development office at a rural hospital, my CEO kept asking me: "Why are we going back to the same people? When are you going to find new people?" He wasn't impressed by all the statistical and logical answers about donor retention and most of the...