Don’t build your fundraising on rented land like AmazonSmile
Did you see the news about AmazonSmile? After 10 years, they've decided it doesn't work for them. So they're stopping the program on February 20, 2023 and they're going a different way. Did you share "AmazonSmile" links with your donors? Did you include "Amazon Smile"...
It’s weird to ask for money in January, isn’t it?
January can be a hard month to make fundraising calls in. As the leader of a nonprofit, you are acutely aware of all the work that went into your organization’s fundraising last month. So it can feel “too soon” to get back to asking. It’s not to soon. All of your work...
Surprises for New Nonprofit Leaders
At a recent "Exactly What To SayTM for Nonprofit Leaders" session at the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference, I asked attendees: When you took on a new leadership position, what surprised you most? While there were responses like "the great impact I get to make" and...
What do we do now?
You've made it. It's after GivingTuesday. Your year-end fundraising letters are written, edited, and stuffed. Your year-end fundraising emails are scheduled. Your fundraising systems are in motion. Now what do you do? This is supposed to be the biggest month of the...
Across the Generations: 5 Tips for Fundraising to All Ages
Nonprofits are currently in a unique position, interacting with as many as five different generations at any given point (from the Silent Generation to Gen Z). Each generation is as different as the next, meaning your organization requires a strategic fundraising...
Marc’s Donor Communications Panel with NXUnite: Key Takeaways
According to NXUnite’s Nonprofit Fundraising Training guide, written and oral communication are two of the most important skills that any fundraising professional must have. While it might seem obvious, communication is at the core of fundraising, and nonprofit...
Digital First Impressions: Your Nonprofit’s Homepage
Your homepage is the face of your nonprofit. While marketing appeals will likely be supporters’ first impression of your nonprofit, your homepage tells supporters everything they need to know about your nonprofit (whether it’s intentional or not). To improve visitors’...
Pleasant Persistence (it’s boring but effective)
One of the hard truths about fundraising is that: fundraising isn't always fun. Good fundraising is tedious, meticulous, regular, pleasant persistence. (Even when you don't feel like being pleasant.) If you're not getting the results you want, look at your own...
3 Tips for Fundraising in a Recession
One of the interesting things of being an active blog for twenty years is you get to cover things like fundraising in a recession. Multiple times. A quick search shows blog posts on recession proof fundraising going back at least 14 years. Including "10 Tips for...
5 Ways to Level Up Your Volunteer Program
Volunteers are key to helping nonprofits stay up and running. From donating their time to help out with vital programs and initiatives to lending their professional expertise and skills, volunteers help keep nonprofits on track to complete their goals. As a nonprofit...
Low-cost or free fundraising training
Upcoming Fundraising and Nonprofit Trainings If you're looking for free or low-cost, high-quality fundraising training, here are three events to check out! And each are being recorded so even if you miss them live, you should be able to access them later! Social Media...
Charity Auctions for Beginners: 7 Key Things to Know
As a nonprofit professional, you’ve probably heard that charity auctions are time-consuming. On top of the venue details, ticketing, and marketing you’re used to handling for general fundraising events, there’s item procurement and bid tracking to consider. The...
Work in a nonprofit? Then join a board
Most other teams or organizations are run by a person or a partnership. The people in charge have both the responsibility for the welfare of the organization and the authority to make decisions for it. But nonprofits are weird organizations. The head of a nonprofit...
Keep Your Eye on These 5 Website Data Metrics + Tips
An online presence is the backbone of nonprofit operations. Most nonprofits already have a dedicated website with donation pages, blog content, contact forms, testimonials, and other information about their cause. A well-designed website helps raise brand awareness,...
How Ambassadors Can Further Your Recurring Giving Programs
Whether it be the latest TikTok dance, Instagram live conversation, or a Facebook Challenge, influencers everywhere are taking to their chosen social media platforms to highlight brand partnerships. Skilled influencers have their own style and can easily incorporate...
Why fundraising asks are so hard
Fundraising is said to top the lists of things people find most scary. Right up there with fear of public speaking and fear of untimely death. Nonprofit fundraisers and volunteers refer to that fear when they explain why they don't make the fundraising solicitations...
Nonprofit Donor Management: 4 Awesome Best Practices
Whether in times of stability or uncertainty, building and maintaining strong relationships with your donors is the key to hitting your fundraising goals. Establishing genuine connections with donors builds trust and increases the chance that supporters will continue...
Perfecting the Online Donor Experience: 4 Strategies
Did you know that online giving increased by 9% across the nonprofit sector in 2021—and continues to grow for organizations big and small? Online giving and engagement have become a cornerstone of the fundraising world, making it essential for nonprofit organizations...
![[Question Marc] How to re-engage a hard-to-reach major donor](https://cdn.fundraisingcoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/11093850/questionmarc-600sq-400x250.jpg)
[Question Marc] How to re-engage a hard-to-reach major donor
Question: How have you successfully re-engaged a major donor who was challenging to reach? Great question. A big thing is to keep mixing up the communication. Often I find fundraisers favor one form of communication. Or maybe two. They'll email and email and email....
Inspiration and Advice for a New (Fiscal) Year
July 1st is the "New Year" for many nonprofits. New fiscal Year, that is! No matter how well the past year's fundraising was, today is the day you start back at zero. Again. So I asked some of the top experts in the field what advise they'd give to nonprofit leaders...
Deadlines drive donations
One of my favorite fundraising colleagues, John Donovan, once said, "Deadlines drive donations." As we approach the end of June, this truth can help your fundraising efforts. Many nonprofits in North America end their fiscal year in June. The end of a fiscal year is a...
Apple’s Privacy and your nonprofit’s email marketing
Have you noticed a change in your email open rates? Do they seem to have drastically increased? That increase isn't what you think. Apple's Mail Privacy Protection Even if you're not an iPhone user, you may remember all the news about a year ago when Apple shared its...
Stop telling fundraisers their goal is “more”
Enough is enough. Nonprofit leaders need to set actual fundraising goals. Unfortunately, nonprofit leaders rarely do. Rather than setting a clear goal, leaders pressure fundraising professionals to raise more. "More" is vague and immeasurable. "More" is unacceptable....
What if we’ve asked them all?
When I'm being a fundraising coach, I tend to coach nonprofit CEOs and executive directors. One of my primary tasks I try to help them build into their rhythm is for them is to make 5 - 10 major donor calls each week. But since CEOs aren't managing a large portfolio...
You don’t need to be in crisis!
Last week, I heard board members make a classic blunder. They were worried that they couldn’t fundraise any more. Why? Because they weren’t in a crisis. They had good reserves and the finances were very well managed. So they couldn't see why anyone would donate to the...
Why high-achievers find fundraising hard
As a leadership coach, I work with a lot of high-achievers. People who've experienced success enough times to be promoted to the head of a team, a department, or even the head the organization. One of the oddest things about leadership is in the Western model is that,...
How much time should a nonprofit CEO spend on fundraising?
Every Monday, I send out a fundraising email for nonprofit Executive Directors and CEOs. Last week, I dealt with a question I get alot: how much of a nonprofit CEO's time should be given to fundraising?. Here's what I told them. Fundraising is all about Leadership As...
Just ask!
I've been doing LOTS of trainings in the last few months. And getting a lot of the same types of questions. They generally sound like: "How do I know when a right time to ask so-and-so?" "How do I know if that asking amount is too much?" "This is what happened during...
The 2 things to avoid in year end fundraising
With 4 weeks left in the calendar year, staying focused is more important than ever. Rather than feeling like you're living out a well planned fundraising year, these last four weeks can often feel like you're missing out on everything. That you're falling short...
Fundraising is leading – from within
I've said for years that fundraising is all about leadership. And we all have leadership opportunities, even if we don't have leadership titles. One of the best ways to grow in our ability to lead is to get clear on our values. Both personally and organizationally....