If you’re not already planning a fundraising campaign around #GivingTuesday, you should! It’s the perfect antidote to all the shopping happening on #BlackFriday and #CyberMonday. If you aren’t familiar with #GivingTuesday, it’s an online campaign started in 2012 that any nonprofit can participate in, allowing your cause to take … [Read more...]
5 Practical Steps to Raising Major Gifts in Time for Year-End
The summer has flown by and the kids are back to school. It’s now time to think about your year-end fundraising. Statistics show that most organizations will raise up to 60% or more of their total fundraising in the last few months of the year, so the fall is always a very critical time of year. Although raising major gifts is a lengthy … [Read more...]
Getting Real with Major Gifts: Interview with Jamie Roseman of Planned Parenthood
For more than a year, I have been blogging about how to raise major gifts. I thought it would be interesting to team up with some of my colleagues in the field to share some of their expertise on the subject. Recently I had the opportunity to speak with Jamie Roseman, at Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood … [Read more...]
Exactly How and Why to Use a Pre-Call Letter with a Donor
A pre-call letter is a letter (or email) you send to a donor to let them know you will be calling, so hopefully, they are more receptive to your call. Tim asked what I thought of pre-call letters, and how much detail they should have. He also wanted to know if you should really let prospective donors know why you’re calling, or if you … [Read more...]
How to Determine The Right Ask Amount When Asking Donors for Gifts
Our question this week is from Sarah, who wants to know: How do you determine the right ask amount? This is a great question, and one that many people struggle with. Unfortunately, there's no exact formula. Fundraising is about working with people, which makes it part science and part art -- but there are some general guidelines … [Read more...]
How to Get a Donor to Meet with You for the First Time
Have you ever tried to get a donor to meet with you in person? Did you succeed? Was it challenging? This is a question I get asked all the time: How do I get a donor to meet with me for the first time? If you're wondering how to get a donor to meet with you for the first time, I want you to ask yourself, “What is the goal for … [Read more...]
Maximizing Your Asks (and Your Gifts) Per Year
Did you know that most organizations with small development shops make less than 50 asks per year? What's more, they actually get far fewer gifts. This is because they don’t get every gift they ask for (which is not necessarily a bad thing, by the way). How Often Are You Asking? Do you know how many times per year you ask for … [Read more...]
Maintain (or Even Increase) Your Annual Fund During a Capital Campaign
In my most recent Ask the Fundraising Expert video, you'll learn how to maintain – or even increase – your annual fund during a capital campaign. A common question I get as a fundraising consultant is: “We’re considering a capital campaign, but how do we keep from losing money on our annual campaign while we're pursuing the capital … [Read more...]
Exactly What to Say to Get 100% Participation from Your Board
Maybe you don't yet need to hire a fundraising consultant or coach — what you need instead is just the answer to a burning question about fundraising (possibly even one you’ve been embarrassed to ask). If that's the case, you'll be excited to learn about my new video blog series: Ask the Fundraising Expert. Ask the Fundraising … [Read more...]
4 Actions You Can Take Today to Raise More Year-End Money
Now that the Major Gifts Challenge has officially come to an end, it's time to think about the significance of year-end giving to your organization. If you’re like most organizations, you might get 40% or more of your total fundraising revenue in the last few weeks of the year. That’s a HUGE deal. So what are you going to do differently this … [Read more...]
