Rant in progress: You’re going to have to ask!
[Warning: Rant in progress] It's happening again. I'm having lots of conversations with people that want an out. They want to know the magic mailing that will bring in lots of gifts. Or some magic event that will be a sure thing. These people claim to be interested in...
How to survive as a small shop
I'm really pleased to introduce you to Tina Cincotti of Funding Change. When I saw this in her email newsletter, I asked her if I could share it with you. I'm glad she said yes! Be sure to sign up for her monthly Keep the Change newsletter. How to survive as a small...
How a war in Libya can kill your website
When it comes to registering domain names, most people will choose top level domains like ".com," ".org," and ".net". But there are so many other options. My domain registrar, Joker.com lists 23 other options. And there are definitely more! Some sites have had a great...
The Role of the Executive Director in a Development Database, Part 3
Today we have the third installment in Sandy's three part series on the nonprofit executive's role with a development database. The first part included Excel isn't a database and the second part reminded EDs you don't have to be a geek. You can reach Sandy on Twitter...
The Role of the Executive Director in a Development Database, Part 2
This is the second part of a three part series on the executive director's role with a development database. The first part included Excel is not a database by Sandy Wilder In Part 1 of our series, we addressed the first of our issues regarding Excel vs. the database...
The Role of the Executive Director in a Development Database
Today, I'm super excited to introduce, Sandy Wilder. Sandy is a database whiz and the BEST Raisers' Edge trainer I've ever learned from. I've been bugging her for her thoughts on the ED's role with a fundraising database. A version of this series inside...
What Katy Perry and the Black Eyed Peas taught me about nonprofit fundraising
Last week I heard Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" for the first time. The song is basically a few lines of lyrics repeated over and over. And it topped the charts in popularity. Listening to Katy Perry got me thinking about fundraising. Her song reminded me of the Black...
How to Make Your Fundraising Efforts Go Viral
Today's guest post is from Joe Garecht. Joe is the founder of The Fundraising Authority, a website that offers free articles and advice on raising money for small and medium-sized non-profits. He's got some great tips on positioning your fundraising appeal to go...
Cool gigs this week! One might be near you!
I've just finished my final polish on my slides for the three talks I'm doing this week. I'm so excited! These are going to be great trainings! The LinkedBook? Wednesday, I'm giving 3-hour training on how to effectively use social media for individuals and small...
Fundraising Training Videos now available online!
I'm thrilled to be able to announce that my publisher, 501 Videos, has made the Ask Without Fear DVD set available online! Now you have the opportunity to get the DVD or have a lifetime membership to a site with the full set of videos, forms, and resources available...
Twestival Local 2011: Interviews with Organizers
Last month I had the privilege of interviewing some Twestival organizers, Stéphanie Montreuil @fleur_de_lotus of the Ottawa team and Chris Penbernthy @chrispenberthy on the Plymouth team. I love how both of these organizers are going about creatively helping charities...
Fundraising Tips for Twestival Local 2011 Organizers
I'm pleased to be providing fundraising coaching for Twestival organizers around the world. Here are some tips the team has developed over the last couple years. I've updated them this year and made sure they fit in 140 characters! 🙂 Hopefully these will be helpful...
That Red Cross sure knows fundraising!
I just saw a post on Mashable about how the Red Cross is helping get the word out about fundraising. With a little snippet of code, you can have a thin red bar on the top of your website or blog to help raise money for the earthquake victims in Japan. You can see a...
Now on YouVersion: Principles of Fundraising
I'm thrilled to announce my Fundraising in the Bible seminar is now a free devotional reading plan on YouVersion! If you use this popular free Bible app, you can now do the 6 day study from your iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Blackberry, or even your desktop. Check it...
3 things Disney has taught me about celebrations
I love going to Disney World in Florida. Disney has celebrations worked out to a science. Looking at this t-shirt today, I realized three things Disney's taught me about celebrations and special events: Find excuses to celebrate Disney seems to celebrate everything....
Are fundraising professionals stupid?
I just had another talk with a fundraising director who was getting micro-managed by a nonprofit ED. She was out visiting sponsors for an event and getting emails questioning whether being out of the office was the best use of her time. This happens all the time. Even...
Are your Facebook updates invisible?
Last week, I tried giving my "Ask Without Fear!" Facebook page fans a special offer. Since they were already fans, I simply "updated fans" with the content of the special offer. That didn't work. I'm so glad I tweeted and updated my Facebook status. People replied to...
I’m sorry, is that your parent speaking?
I grew up with a mother working on her Masters in family counseling. So as kids, my sister and I got to read a lot of her homework. Seriously. She'd photocopy articles or chapters in books and have all of us read it. I know. I grew up in a weird house. But it was the...
Fundraising training for libraries and librarians
I love libraries and believe their mission is as important in our digital age as they've ever been. So I'm working on a version of "Ask Without Fear!" specifically for librarians. I'm blogging my book at my new library fundraising blog Beyond Fines. Let's make this a...
Got a great nonprofit video? Submit it for the DoGooder Video awards
Did you see the awards that See3 and YouTube are giving? Apparently it's the fifth year of the "DoGooder Video awards." There are awards for large, medium, and small nonprofits and even for low-cost videos. The CASE Foundation is offering $2500 prizes. Here's a video...
What to questions should you ask when considering fundraising software?
This week, I'm pleased to introduce David Unger. David is an accomplished fundraiser and President of Unger & Associates. His years of experience have led him to create his own donor management and fundraising software system: Total Community Manager. I've asked him...
Fundraising on President’s Day?!
Today is President's Day in the USA. So I got to thinking: how could a nonprofit use this holiday for fundraising? Here are two ideas I came up with: (1) President's Day Mailing Send a mailing to your database listing all the past presidents -- however they're called...
Did Facebook make your friends and fans invisible?
Last week, my friend Susan Murphy (@suzemuse) tweeted a blog post by V3 called "How not to be invisible on the new Facebook newsfeed." The title was a bit misleading, but the post was very helpful. Apparently, our friends at Facebook have automatically changed our...
Sample Fundraising Kick emails
People are benefiting from the new Fundraising Kick weekly emails. [If you're not familiar with what I'm talking about, Fundraising Kick's are brief, simple weekly emails that quickly give you the added kick to do what you already know you need to do: ask for money.]...
Make some green this St. Patty’s Day
You've got a month. Have you figured out a way to use St. Patrick's Day to raise some funds for your cause? What if you did a mailing along these lines: Dear _________, You've heard of the "luck of the Irish"? Well this St. Patrick's Day, families at our shelter could...
Wikipedia’s savvy fundraising
I'm a big fan of making it ridiculously easy for donors to give. Apparently, Wikipedia is too. Last night, a web search from my phone led me to Wikipedia. They knew I needed the mobile website based on my browser, so they stuck a banner that gave directions how to...
Should we have a large board?
A client recently asked me an excellent question: I know of an organization that has a large board. It seems they do it so that they can invite potential donors to be on the board. It seems more or less honorary, they don't get involved much. Should we look at making...
Are you making it a happy Valentine’s Day for your donors?
I encouraged Fundraising Kick subscribers to devote all of last week to showing donors some love. I even suggested different ways to express their appreciation for people that have made their organization's existence possible. How about you? Even if you're not on the...
Ask Without Fear! Fundraising Class
Tomorrow I'm teaching my first "open" fundraising class. It'll be held in Lewiston, Maine at the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce. For more information, and to register for the class, go to https://fundraisingcoach.com/class. Apparently people are finding this...
5 Mail Lessons Learned While Fundraising for Higher Education
Today I'm pleased to introduce David Hazeltine. David and I met at an NEAHP conference a couple years back and immediately hit it off. Since he works with DMW Direct Fundraising, I've asked if he'd share his insights into direct mail fundraising. Check out his blog at...