In many development offices, staff are on a never-ending hamster wheel -- running from grant deadline to grant deadline, from one event to the next, and juggling direct mail deadlines, too. It’s a hectic and harried environment. Between deadlines, you’re expected to raise major gifts, put out fires, send thank you letters, and so much … [Read more...]
New AFP President and CEO Shares 5 Key Goals: Interview with Mike Geiger
Meet Mike Geiger, the new President and CEO of AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals), arguably the most important organization in our sector. In this interview, Mike shares his vision for AFP, as well as his top priorities for his first year on the job. Interview Highlights Below I've posted the highlights of my … [Read more...]
3 Website Tweaks to Improve Your Donor Retention: Interview with Jay Wilkinson
I had the opportunity to interview Jay Wilkinson of Firespring. Jay's expertise revolves around donor retention and, in particular, what people can do to improve their online presence. In this interview, Jay shares 3 simple but effective website tweaks to to help you retain donors, as well as more insights regarding donor … [Read more...]
The ABC’s of Identifying Major Donors: Access, Belief, Capacity — and Generosity?
If you are responsible for major gift fundraising, one of your important tasks is to identify prospective major gift donors. In other words, you need to discover those people who are most likely to give major gifts to your organization. Frequently, development professionals will call me in search of “new” potential prospects for major … [Read more...]
Latest 2018 Data from Giving USA is Good News! (For Now)
Giving USA is the most widely anticipated and recognized report on the “state of our sector.” It’s the State of the Union for philanthropy, if you will. And the latest data from Giving USA is good news! For now... Below is a summary of what's in this video -- not an exact transcript. But you'll get the gist whether you decide to read, … [Read more...]
10 Questions to Ask Donors BEFORE Asking for a Gift
You understand fundraising is about relationships. But building relationships with donors is easier said than done. One reason building relationships is challenging is that it's often difficult to get meetings with prospective donors. And you do need to meet with donors to learn about them and build the relationship. Another reason … [Read more...]
Get Your Board on Board with Fundraising: Part 3 – Make it a Priority
This post brings the Get Your Board on Board with Fundraising 3-part series to a close. If you missed part 1 or 2, you can read either post here: Part 1: Alleviate Fear - Provide Education Part 2: Manage Expectations - Keep it Simple Is Fundraising a Board Priority? 4 Simple Tests There are four quick tests you can do to determine … [Read more...]
3 Brilliant Ways to Stay on Track with Major Gift Fundraising
Earlier this week I spoke at BloomCon, Bloomerang’s annual conference. I focused much of my talk on how to stay on track with raising major gifts -- perhaps the most critical thing you must do. Staying on track with raising major gifts is hard. It’s not your fault that you have 100 deadlines coming at you, ten “top” priorities pulling you … [Read more...]
Get Your Board on Board with Fundraising: Part 2 – Manage Expectations
In order to ensure success in getting board members to help with fundraising, it’s critical that you manage expectations -- both theirs, and yours! Many board members who don’t currently help with fundraising might get involved if they clearly understood what was expected of them… and HOW to be successful. In part 1 of this series, you … [Read more...]
Let’s Get Personal – Getting to Know Your Donor BEFORE Asking for a Major Gift
Major Gifts are a personal affair. They’re not just responses to general appeals, special programs or online campaigns. Donors make major gifts because they feel passionate about a cause or organization ... AND they generally have a personal connection to that cause: They have a family member with cancer They grew up loving the great … [Read more...]
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