What’s Stopping You from Raising Major Gifts? Part 2 of 5: Bad Prospects In part 1 of this 5 part miniseries on overcoming every obstacle to raising major gifts, we crushed your self-doubt about raising major gifts. In this post, we'll address the notion that you have the bad prospects (i.e., the wrong prospective donors). One of the … [Read more...]
What’s Stopping You from Raising Major Gifts? Part 1: Self-Doubt
What’s Stopping You from Raising Major Gifts? Part 1 of 5: Self-Doubt Do you ever wish you could raise major gifts, but simply aren’t sure if you can? Maybe your organization doesn’t have the right: donors board members executive director infrastructure Or maybe it’s time you don’t have enough of. Or maybe, just maybe, … [Read more...]
3 Ways to Transform “No” into “Yes” when Asking for Major Gifts
Have you ever asked someone for a major gift and they said "No"? I have, and it’s not nearly as much fun as when your donor says yes. However, "No" is an answer you need to be prepared for if you’re going to be a successful major gift fundraiser. You know the saying, if you’re not getting any no’s, you’re probably not asking enough. … [Read more...]
When is the Perfect Time to Ask Your Donors for a Gift?
Do you ever feel stuck in cultivation? Like you’re simply not sure it’s the right time to ask? How can you know when the donor is ready? Figuring out when it’s the right time to ask can be one of the most difficult challenges for fundraisers to overcome. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to coach a group of consultants. Someone posed … [Read more...]
What to do When a Donor Gives You BAD Advice
Video Transcript As you may know, there’s an overused expression in fundraising which goes: Ask for money and you’ll get advice and ask for advice and you’ll get money. I don’t love the expression, but its underlying message is important. It reminds us that it’s important to build relationships with donors before they invest, and one … [Read more...]
Do Fundraisers REALLY Still Need to Ask for Donations?
Last week I was speaking to a group of fundraisers in Erie, PA and one of them said: What you’re teaching is ‘old school.’ If you cultivate a person well, they’ll make a gift on their own. They don’t need to be asked. To put this in some context, we were talking about raising major gifts. One of his donors whom he knew quite well, kindly … [Read more...]
How to Secure a Donor Visit and Overcome Any Objection You’ll Get
Video Transcript Today’s question comes from Jon, an executive director at a health foundation. Jon asks: “What can we do to secure a visit? That’s our greatest challenge.” I love this topic, because fundraising is about relationships. And, if you can’t get a visit or “get your foot in the door,” you certainly can’t build a … [Read more...]
How to Kill the Idea of Nonprofit Overhead
Video Transcript Nonprofit “overhead” is a hot button issue among donors and the general public. Unfortunately, many people “judge” a nonprofit based on how much they spend on overhead. I’m not sure why or how this started, but it has been perpetuated by the mainstream media, as well as certain websites that rate charities. Sadly it’s … [Read more...]
Board Members Should NEVER Ask for Money – Here’s Why
Today’s question comes to us from Angela and it’s a great question. Angela writes: The trouble that I have is getting past the 'I don't want to ask my friends for money' response. What else can I do to motivate those board members who aren't comfortable asking directly? Share it with others -- Today’s Tweetable: Change the … [Read more...]
Seth Godin on Successful Fundraising (Video Interview)
Seth Godin was one of the featured speakers at the AFP International Conference in Baltimore. He sat down with me for an exclusive interview for my Ask the Fundraising Expert series shortly before he took the stage. Interview Highlights (Transcript) Here are some brief highlights of the interview, but be sure to watch the video for … [Read more...]
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