No donor wants to make a donation
Years ago, I wrote about Zig Ziglar teaching that nobody wants a drill. He said millions of drills are sold every year. But no one wants a drill. They want a hole. The same is true with donors. No donor wants to make a donation. Donors want the value the donation will...
Don’t put off fundraising planning to the fall!
Summer. It stirs up thoughts trips, outdoor activities, and school break. A pause in the normal routines of life. Even though we're no longer in school, we still let that "summer mentality" affect us. Rest is good. But taking a break from fundraising in the summer can...
The conundrum of corporate gifts
Last week, I was able to listen to a terrific discussion from business leaders about how their organizations make corporate gifts to charities. It's always good to hear the thought process of donors. But it sometimes raises more questions than it settles. Seeking...
Even in email fundraising location matters
Effective email fundraising can seem like a mystery. As a nonprofit, you take a lot of time to craft your email. You balance images with words. And you often build up to the ask. Unfortunately, donors aren't reading your emails like they read a book! They're skimming....
Help for funding your ministry
We've never met anyone who got into ministry to raise money. Most people sense God's call and start doing service in some area. People are excited for them and encourage them. In the initial rush of excitement, if money even comes up, they try to brush off the thought...
Is there plenty of room on your fundraising island?
As a nonprofit leader, when was the last time you recommended another nonprofit? Plenty of room on the island A while back, Seth Godin wrote about there being plenty of room on the island. He observed that authors regularly recommend other authors even though an MBA...
Why I don’t like crowdfunding
Speaking at a conference recently, fundraisers kept peppering me with questions related to fundraising. Some of those in the audience balanced their entire annual budget on a crowdfunding campaign. That is plain crazy. Yes, crowdfunding has opened up philanthropy and...
Do You Need a Really a Nonprofit Mentor?
The nonprofit sector is a strong and vibrant community full of people willing to help each other out. And now more than ever, it’s important to come together and work as allies and mentors. The value of being mentored seems pretty obvious: new skills, confidence,...
Tithing from the IRA Rollover
Charitable Gift IRA Rollover: The Past In 2006 I was visiting with a donor who was very excited about the recent Pension Protection Act that enabled him to give from his IRA to charity. The Charitable Gift IRA Rollover allowed many donors like him to give a Qualified...
7 Year-End Fundraising Practices That Work All Year
Year-end fundraising is a bountiful time in the life of the nonprofit. Giving Tuesday and holiday-themed asks are just the beginning of the strategies that nonprofits employ for the end-of-year season. But many of these practices are too beneficial to reserve for the...
The missing link in fundraising programs
Whether your fiscal year starts now or is only part of the way through, January is a good time to evaluate your fundraising progress. To help you're planning, here's an email I sent our Fundraising Kick subscribers yesterday. Good morning, Kickers! Listening to a...
3 Great Fundraising Webinars to Kick Off 2017!
These three trainings will get your 2017 fundraising and goal setting off to a great start! The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People & How to Beat Them (free) Join neuropsychologist Dr. Theo Tsaousides as he teaches us about the 7 blocks the brain puts in the way of...
The most important words of your email?
Writing the only part of the email your donors might see: the email subject line Is your inbox filled with holiday sales, year end reminders, and charity appeals? It can be challenging to make your own nonprofit's emails standout! The email subject line. Much like the...
3 things to do now that #GivingTuesday is over
I've been glad to hear of my clients' #GivingTuesday success. Matching gifts and leveraging peer-to-peer approaches seem to be the most effective reasons for their success. But #GivingTuesday is over, now what? 3 Post #GivingTuesday Suggestions Start planning 2017's...
Educating donors is not fundraising
I've been hearing a well-meaning but fundraising killing myth while talking to many groups and training many boards over the last few months. It boils down to: "We need to do more education. If people really knew what we did, they would give money and our funding...
How to Use a Street Team to Enhance Your Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a term you hear thrown around in both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds these days, but few people have really grasped—and put into practice—exactly what it is. The way I’d define crowdfunding is with these three words: online social fundraising....
Thank You Script for Calls
Research has shown that board members calling donors to do nothing more than say “thank you” for their gift can increase donations by a full 25%! Nonprofits get the best of both worlds. Board members don’t need to ask for money but can rest assured that their effort...
Developing a Plan to Approach Companies
Perhaps you already have a list of companies that could donate to your organization. If not, we’ll be helping you with that in our December 6 webinar. Once you have that list, the next step is to determine who the real decision makers are in each company and how you...
Only 6 Nonprofit Storytelling Conference tickets left – #npstoryconf
Only 6 more tickets left to the conference helping attendees double and triple their fundraising and marketing results!
Improve Donor Stewardship with These 5 Proven Strategies
To successfully retain donors, nonprofits need to invest time into cultivating and maintaining long-lasting relationships, from the first donation onward. With a concrete donor stewardship plan in place, donors will feel more valued and invested in your nonprofit....
A truth about major gift fundraising
Major gift fundraising can be a wonderful experience for donors and for the nonprofit. The results are great - both for donors and for the nonprofits. But an unseemly truth about major gift fundraising is: it's hard. There are times of long, disciplined waiting. I...
Is #GivingTuesday worth it?
I've been getting alot of questions about #GivingTuesday. So here are some thoughts and some links to more insights. A few weeks ago, Farra Trompeter and I discussed #GivingTuesday as part of a year end effort on Blackbaud's #NoFilter Podcast. (You can listen to that...
Have you written off someone as a lost cause? #followupfriday
A coaching client just told me a powerful story of following up. For about six months, he was following up with three supporters. Each had made small donations in the past, less then $1,000 each. After about five months of following up, one donor said he'd make a gift...
Is crowdfunding the right fit for your nonprofit?
I've been fundraising since before Facebook. Even before Google existed! I've seen a lot of fads, tricks, and solid strategies in my time. Two of the most persistent seem to be bake sales and crowdfunding. (Seriously, a startling number of well meaning supporters...
How to use a job analysis to get the salary you want
As a trained salary negotiation facilitator, I’ve presented facts, resources and strategies to many individuals across the globe to help them enter into and walking away successfully from negotiation conversations. Today, I want to provide a tool specifically for...
Fundraising Events: The 10-Step Guide to Planning Your Own
Most of us like to believe that we’d give to charity purely out of the goodness of our hearts. It’s also what we’d hope to be true of our donors. 100% altruism. Philanthropy without expectation of reciprocation. But the world doesn’t work that way. That’s why, as...
Do you wish you had the time to educate your board?
Do you ever wish you had the time to educate your board on the field of fundraising and what really works? Now you don't have to! Watch this quick video to see why: Learn more about this done for you course at: http://101.fundraisingcoach.com/ Hurry! Registration...
Taming the Special Event Monster
You know it’s there, lurking in the shadows of your workload. You try to avoid it, but sooner or later it must be dealt with. Your organization is relying on you to step in and be the hero. Now is the time to take a stand and conquer your fears. It is time to take...
Your fundraising letters helped by zombies
Have you ever struggled with the active voice vs. passive voice in your fundraising letters? It's so easy to slip into the passive voice, thinking it sounds more "objective" or "business-like." But active voice is easier to read and is better at accomplishing your...
Telling Stories that Move Donors to Give
It was the midst of the Great Recession, and about one in ten people across the U.S. were out of work. Amadou was one of them. Unemployment benefits helped his family, for a while. But he had worked for a low wage, and his benefits were only a fraction of that—and...