Major donors for nonprofits come in many different shapes and sizes (read: interests and dollar amounts). But one thing they all have in common, is that they are all asked for money on a regular basis. And yet, solicitors “feel bad” about asking them for a donation. How often are you … [Read more...]
Why People Give to Nonprofits – and Why They Don’t
April 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Often, when I conduct a workshop or a solicitor development program — particularly with volunteer leaders — I facilitate a brainstorming session. I ask all the participants to give me every reason they can think of why people give. With my back to the participants, so that I can write on a … [Read more...]
MJA Challenge: Presenting to One Donor or Twenty
March 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Two weeks ago, I wrote an article that focused on presentation skills. It occurred to me later that many people think these skills are best used for presenting to medium to large crowds. The reality is a presentation to a single donor requires just as much skill, if not more (although you may … [Read more...]
Presenting Your Way to Higher Donations
March 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Last week, David offered a webinar titled, “Keys to Managing the Major Gifts Process: It’s All in the Execution” (the webinar will be posted shortly on the site). As with many of his webinars, people appreciate his voice almost as much as the content. And, while he does have a great … [Read more...]
MJA Challenge: Exceeding Fundraising Goals
December 18, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This month, I found the article referenced in Resources: The MJA Newsletter, “Candy, Content and Competition – Why the UJA-Federation of New York Keeps Breaking Fundraising Records” an inspiration. It gleamed with ideas for engaging and encouraging donor involvement at all levels and I … [Read more...]
Engaging Prospects At A Nonprofit Event
October 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Week 6 of 100 Donors in 90 Days focuses on events as new donor cultivation opportunities. Events bring out polar responses from fundraisers. Some love them, some hate them but almost all agree that events can be a major “time-suck.” This week’s conversation with Shanon Doolittle explained … [Read more...]
Challenge: Fundraising skills
August 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This week’s challenge is actually pulled from a recent article on fundraising skills (click here to read it). Fundraising Skills Challenge: List 3 ways in which you can improve donor loyalty this fall. Then, describe how you can follow through and who, if anyone, will need to be engaged to … [Read more...]
Assessing and Improving Your Nonprofit’s Fundraising Skills
August 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment
If you were to rate your organization’s fundraising capabilities on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the highest), how would you rate your institution? Consider this guide as an overview to improve your organization at any level. If you rated your nonprofit’s fundraising capabilities between … [Read more...]
The Nonprofit Lapsed Donor Project
June 19, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This week, as I listened to Week 2 of 100 Donors in 90 Days, I spent a lot of time nodding my head in agreement. Gail Perry offered a dead-on assessment of how many nonprofits ignore lapsed donors, previous board members and current and past volunteers, instead of embracing these people who have … [Read more...]
Tip of the month: Hooray for Nonprofit Consistency
January 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Often, our articles focus on the areas that are lacking in a nonprofit. How to improve yourself How to strengthen staff development How to engage your board members in the development process How to get your campaign unstuck, etc. But don't forget to recognize your strengths. Why not … [Read more...]