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...]
Lessons Learned from ALS Ice Bucket Challenge: Silly Stunt or Brilliant Fundraising?
It’s not often that I digress from writing about major gifts, but I had to make an exception for the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, you might be living under a rock -- or on an extremely extended vacation.) In fact, I can’t ever recall a fundraising campaign going viral in this manner, or of this … [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...]
Getting Real with Major Gifts: Interview with Keith Rhodes of BBBS
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 Keith Rhodes, the new Senior VP of Major Gifts for Big Brothers Big Sisters of … [Read more...]
Train my Board? Are You Crazy, I Don’t Have Time to Check my E-mail!
Not very often, but once in a while I invite a guest blogger to post on my site. My friend and colleague, Andrea Kihlstedt, along with her co-author, Andy Robinson, published a book this year, which is so amazing, I wanted to share it with you. The following post will give you some great ideas on how to engage your board in the fundraising … [Read more...]
How to Cultivate Foundations of Every Type (from Corporate to Family)
This week's question is from Alex and it's about cultivating foundations. Remember, cultivating means building relationships. Specifically, Alex wants to know: Should you cultivate foundations the same way you cultivate individual donors? The answer is “Absolutely yes!” Tip of the Day: You definitely want to build … [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...]
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