After the Ask: Understanding Nonprofit Payment Processing
Your organization has just made a compelling fundraising ask to your potential donors. Now that one of the hardest parts is over, what are the next steps you should take? There are a few practices your team should put into use to make sure your donors’ journey is as...
We’re not selling t-shirts
Fundraising isn't just about raising money one time. If it were, we could sell t-shirts. Fundraising is about connecting values - the values of donors with the values of your cause. Sure, there are times when we just need the transactional. We need to pay the bills....
Doubt in fundraising isn’t surprising – it just might be a gift
There are a number of misconceptions about what being a successful nonprofit leader and fundraiser looks like. One of the most common is that the leader needs to be 100% confident. Completely sure about themselves at all times. If they aren't sure, how can they ask...
3 Things to do Now to Successfully Finish Year-end Fundraising
There is so much information on year-end fundraising out there right now. And, let's face it, so many of us are tired. Ready to stop. But if you run a nonprofit or run nonprofit fundraising, this is not the time to take two weeks off. Here's the advice I gave...
Thanking donors is NOT an activity report
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 X...
Asking is (almost) more about listening
In the last few weeks, I’ve had interesting conversations with people about asking. CEOs who think that asking is a “schpeal” – a precise formula of words that will get the prospect to give generously. Or that asking is a step by step process so precise that they can...
Leadership and Fundraising in a Pandemic
This week, I was honored to be the guest on Eliz Greene and Thom Singer's show, The Webinar Talk Show. We talked about leadership, fundraising, events, and sales in a pandemic. I loved Eliz's story about a fundraising appeal that wowed her. And Thom's observations on...
How NOT to write a fundraising letter
Have you ever written a fundraising letter? A fundraising letter you felt really proud about? One that presented your nonprofit in an amazing light. That showed how good you were working in your cause. One that was sure to convince donors to give to you? I have too....
![[Guest Post] 10 Tips for Creating a Highly Effective Planned Giving Appeal](https://cdn.fundraisingcoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/02225526/3223920178_85c26133df_c-400x250.jpg)
[Guest Post] 10 Tips for Creating a Highly Effective Planned Giving Appeal
Today's guest post is from the "Planned Giving evangelist," Tony Martignetti. Tony is the host of Nonprofit Radio and the creator of the Planned Giving Accelerator. Both as frontline fundraiser and as a consultant, he's helped nonprofits raise over $100 million. You...
What is a major gift fundraiser to do with all this free time?
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 officers' job...
Charity Auctions: 3 Best Practices for Fundraising Success
Charity auctions are some of the most profitable events nonprofits can host. They provide donors with a new way to support your nonprofit and they’re highly cost-effective. Not to mention, they’re incredibly flexible and can be adapted for a variety of audiences and...
4 Smart Donor Segmentation Strategies for Nonprofits
As a nonprofit professional, you know how important it is to cultivate deep and meaningful relationships with your supporters. It’s even more important to work toward these relationships during difficult times. To effectively build these relationships, times of...
A different look at “Deadlines drive donations”
Today is the start of the last week of the fiscal year for many nonprofits. And one thing we know about fundraising: deadlines drive donations. Year after year, we've seen even arbitrary deadlines like galas or the end of the fiscal year generate fundraising bumps. Do...
![[Guest Post] 6 Lessons Learned by Attending Virtual Fundraising Events](https://cdn.fundraisingcoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/02225552/iStock-1216836287-wine-glass-virtual-party1800w-alpha-400x250.png)
[Guest Post] 6 Lessons Learned by Attending Virtual Fundraising Events
On a recent call, I heard a concept that really impressed me. Amanda Herlihy is the Director of Development South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities Foundation. She knew that she was going to have to shift her fundraising events to a virtual format....
Donor generosity is astounding
When we entered the pandemic lockdown here in the United States, nonprofits were rightly concerned about potentially plummeting donations. Those of us who'd been in fundraising through disasters and economic downturns, knew there'd be an initial spike in giving. But...
3 ways for board members to fundraise even when stuck at home
The pandemic continues to change the way we've always done things. What if you're a board member who's stuck at home? How can you support your nonprofit's fundraising? 3 Ways to Help Your Nonprofit Fundraise in a Pandemic People are still being generous. They are...
Shifting focus in crowdfunding
This week, international crowdfunding expert Anita Gallagher came to The Nonprofit Academy to teach us the latest trends on successful crowdfunding. The shift in messaging may surprise you. Appealing to the Head or Heart? For a long time, nonprofit fundraisers have...
12 tips for fundraising during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic
With more and more countries, states, and cities enforcing at-home isolation and the financial markets falling, fundraising is definitely harder. But of the worst things I kept hearing from clients was "We don't think this is the right time to ask for money." My...
Avoid the 3 Biggest Mistakes of Fundraising in a Recession
The media is full of stories about how this Covid-19 coronavirus is impacting the economy. Gatherings are getting canceled. People are self-quarantining. And donors who are freaking out watching their investments shrink. Last month, I shared some ideas on fundraising...
Leadership tensions in fundraising
Leaders are an amazing group. They regularly tackle issues no one else is willing to. And, in the midst of being pulled apart by multiple interest groups, they figure out which priorities to focus on. Leadership is not for the faint of heart! Add to that the tensions...
Fundraising in an age of coronavirus (Covid-19)
If you’re one of my private coaching clients, you’ve already heard me ask: what preparations are you making for the possibility that your fundraising event might be canceled due to the coronavirus (now officially called Covid-19)? The numbers of coronavirus seem to...
Donor Data: 5 Data Tips for More Efficient Fundraising
Each and every interaction your nonprofit has with supporters comes with a data point. Whether that’s an opened email newsletter, a social media comment, or the many digital donations made during your year-end fundraiser, these interactions provide a wealth of...
Create a system for expressing gratitude
Do you have a system for expressing gratitude? For telling your nonprofit's donors how grateful you are for their support? In my weekly coaching email, Fundraising Kick, we've been looking at systems we use in fundraising. Using a system allows you to make a decision...
5 Ways to Keep Motivation After the Year-End Giving Season
There’s no denying that year-end giving is a powerful force. After all, some reports suggest as much as one-third of all annual giving occurs in December alone! However, once the final numbers are calculated and the year-end campaigns end, what happens then? You’ve...
![[Guest Post] Expanding Your Money Mindset](https://cdn.fundraisingcoach.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/02225651/AJW-Headshot-crop-400x250.png)
[Guest Post] Expanding Your Money Mindset
Changing the way you think about money is a vital key to becoming successful at fundraising. In this guest post, Andrea Waltz points out an important area for us to address. Andrea is the author of "Go for No! Yes is the destination, No is how you get there" - an...
Book review – 10 Simple Fundraising Lessons
One of the joys of being a speaker and executive coach is that people send me their books. I have such a long reading list, that I usually take a l-o-n-g time reading the ones that are sent to me. I'm glad I didn't wait to read Jim Eskin's. (It definitely helped that...
7 Donation Page Strategies That Actually Convert
Over the past few years, charitable giving has evolved with online donations rising as its new star. If you’re not including a digital giving option by now, your organization is almost certainly missing out. According to Nonprofits Source, online giving has seen...
A surprising way to better fundraising
Improving fundraising is a never-ending quest for nonprofit leaders. But recent research shows a startling discovery on how to make your fundraising better. In "The Wake Up Call," researchers Dr. Adrian Sargeant and Harriet Day researched leadership styles and their...
Get over your discomfort and politely ask for money
I recently tweeted "your discomfort with asking is getting in the way of a donor's joy in giving. So get out of the way!" (Click here to tweet that.) Since then, I've been getting a lot of questions about how to get over the discomfort! How to politely ask for money...
7 Strategies to Power Your Year-End Fundraising
The final two months of the year are a vital time for nonprofits to reach their fundraising goals. Not only do these months hold the biggest fundraising day of the year for nonprofits (Giving Tuesday), but this trend of increased giving continues through December...