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....
Nonprofit Website Strategies to Use With the Google Ad Grant
Today's article from Grant Hensel, the CEO of Nonprofit Megaphone, dives into how to optimize your current digital presence to make the most of the Google Ad Grant. Grant and the Nonprofit Megaphone team have worked with over 370 leading nonprofits in Google Grant...
Future of Fundraising: 5 Nonprofits That Are Leading the Way
This article is contributed by Cassie Losquadro, Solutions Executive at GoodUnited. Cassie has spent the last 5 years in the fundraising technology space. Cassie is energized by working with nonprofit leaders and changemakers who are to a person, saving the world...
Fundraising in Uncertain Times
Last week, I blogged about leading in uncertain times. It's gotten the most feedback of any blog post this year. As I've been thinking about it, the three things that help leading through uncertain times fit perfectly with fundraising too. We shouldn't be surprised -...
4 Fundraising Tips for your Nonprofit from Jerry Panas
Facebook used this picture to remind me that twelve years ago, I was with Jerry Panas at a fundraising training at the University of Southern Maine. What struck me about the picture is the pad of paper beside Jerry. These few fundraising tips are powerful. And they'll...
4 Tips To Recruit Volunteers For Your Next Major Event
Between working out all the logistics, sending invitations, and actually hosting your event, there’s a lot that goes into a successful nonprofit event. Recruiting and screening volunteers might seem like just another time-consuming task to add to your already massive...
The biggest mistake with major gift asks
One of the biggest mistakes I see with major gift solicitations is incredibly easy to fix. If you've ever made an appointment for a major gift ask, you've probably felt the stress of "getting it wrong." The worry that you might offend the other. Or that you won't have...
Fundraising Kick: Don’t Grow Weary
This issue of the weekly Fundraising Kick seems to have come at the perfect time for subscribers. So I'm sharing it here as well. Fundraising Kick coaching emails are written for busy nonprofit CEOs and my private coaching clients. The goal is to remind people who...
3 Ways to Stay Connected With Your Nonprofit’s Supporters
Many organizations make the fatal mistake of asking their donors for gifts over and over again without a break for other types of communication. However, when you don’t vary the type of communications and engagement opportunities with your supporters, your donors may...
Fire that donor!
A nonprofit fundraising plan that adjusts with the time
Today's guest post is from T. Clay Buck, Founder & Principal of TCBFundraising. A Master Trainer, Clay also teaches at the University of Nevada. He's been on all sides of a nonprofit - running the fundraising, analyzing nonprofit databases, and consulting to...
Nonprofit Mission and Case Statements: 4 Top Tips
Today's article covers an integral project for all nonprofits - creating and refining mission and case statements. These documents are a vital foundation for all communication activities a nonprofit will undertake, as Grant Cobb, Head of Marketing and Analytics at...
Should I ask my friends?
One of the scariest things about fundraising is the fear that you'll ruin relationships. One of the most common questions I get as a fundraising coach is "Should I send this appeal to people I hangout with?" Last week, an accomplished nonprofit leaders asked me just...
How to Make the Most of Your Next Text-to-Donate Campaign
In today’s fundraising landscape, the importance of mobile platforms cannot be overstated. Researchers estimate that by 2025, almost 75% of internet users worldwide will only use their smartphones to access the internet. That represents an astonishing shift to heavy...
A Leader’s Social Media Presence: 4 Ways to Make It Count
Do you doubt the power of your, and your nonprofit’s, social media presence to be a powerful tool for connecting with supporters? Maybe you’ve maintained your brand across profiles and networks, regularly posted, and even used advertisements to reach new audiences....
Going beyond a no in your nonprofit fundraising ask
I recently heard author Andrea Waltz remind fundraisers to "go for no!" (That's the name of her book too.) It's a reminder that too often we give up before the donor has really made a decision. Reframing Failure She also shared the need for us to reframe the word...
3 problems with the major gift as carrot analogy
Have you ever been about to ask for a major gift only to be warned about the carrot in the garden? It goes something like this: "Sure, you could ask them now. But it might be better to wait. You see, if you were to pull a carrot now, it might come up really small. But...