Do you have a BHAG? That is, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal? You may be familiar with this popular term coined by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in their book, Built to Last. Now, it’s a widely used expression and concept to help with long-term planning and visioning. Set BHAGs to Establish Long-Term Goals Companies often set BHAGs for … [Read more...]
How to Determine the Right Ask Amount for Each and Every Donor
Although you should be asking for major gifts all year long, Q4 is a prime time for raising major gifts. So, there’s no better time to think about how to determine an ask amount than right now. While there’s no exact scientific formula to determine an ask amount, below are some guidelines to help you start thinking about your ask amount in … [Read more...]
When to Take Risks: Is Your Nonprofit Penny-Wise and Pound-Foolish?
Is your nonprofit penny-wise and pound-foolish? What's your organization's risk tolerance, and when is it a good idea to take risks? This big-picture post provides the answers to those questions. Risk Aversion (i.e., The Path Untraveled) No doubt, you’ve heard the expression: It takes money to make money. But what does that even … [Read more...]
3 Critically Important Ways of Measuring Fundraising Success
The most obvious way of measuring fundraising success is dollars raised. However, when your boss and board only focus on dollars raised, they miss a huge piece of the picture -- and that can have serious consequences. Let’s take the example of a new Development Director named Sasha. Sasha's Story: Is She Doing a Great Job? In her first … [Read more...]
8 Tips for a Super Successful #GivingTuesday
To #GivingTuesday or Not to #GivingTuesday? That is the question. What is #GivingTuesday? In case you’re brand new to fundraising or have been living off the grid for the last 10 years, you’re likely familiar with #GivingTuesday. It's the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, #BlackFriday, and #CyberMonday. According to the GivingTuesday … [Read more...]
3 Surefire Ways to Build Your Resilience and Fundraising Confidence
Being a great fundraiser requires RESILIENCE. There’s a lot of rejection in fundraising and hearing "no" over and over can take a toll. Fundraising is part art, part science. There isn’t only one right way to ask for money. Trial and error is par for the course. That’s because fundraising involves humans. And humans have emotions. In … [Read more...]
Raising Major Gifts Post-COVID – Part 3: Solicitation
This is part three of my “back to basics” series on how to raise major gifts during Covid and beyond. Part two looked at cultivation (step 2 in the fundraising cycle). Although there aren’t very many silver linings when it comes to COVID, there is one important change for fundraisers in terms of how we ask for gifts. A key result of forced … [Read more...]
Christmas in July: The Best Time to Prepare for Year-End Fundraising
If your fiscal year ended on June 30th, as is the case with many nonprofits, you may be taking a well-deserved week off after closing out your “year-end” last week. And after some much-needed rest and relaxation, it’s time to start planning for the calendar year-end (regardless of when your fiscal year-end is). 3 Steps to Prepare for … [Read more...]
AFP ICON: Fundraising Trends, Data, Interactive Meetings, and More!
This week is the Association of Fundraising Professionals' International Conference (aka AFP-ICON). I’ve attended this conference every year for over a decade, in addition to speaking nearly every year. While many of us (loyal attendees) had hoped this year’s conference would be in-person, it is fully virtual for a second year due to the … [Read more...]
Managing Up, Down, and Sideways: 3 Ways to Lead a Fundraising Team
As a development director, you may be in the uncomfortable position of managing up, down, and sideways. It takes a lot of effort to get everyone rowing in the same direction when it comes to fundraising. After all, fundraising is a team sport -- or, at least, it should be. Unfortunately, many people on nonprofit leadership teams try to … [Read more...]
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