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...]
3 Ways Prospect Research Can Help You with Year-End Fundraising
Bill Tedesco, CEO of Donor Search, was a huge help with the major gifts research project Dr. Adrian Sargeant and I recently completed. Bill has also been a great partner to the nonprofit sector, providing comprehensive, affordable donor research tools and technology. So I decided to interview him and provide some valuable advice to you … [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...]
The Simplest Way to Get Your Board Members to Help with Fundraising
Donna writes: Some of my board members have said they are “hurt and offended” when I repeatedly ask for their cooperation in generating new leads. How do I get them to understand how important this is without sending them into the “fight or flight” response? Share it with others -- Today’s Tweetable: Use your #nonprofit board … [Read more...]
Cultivation: How to Build One-On-One Relationships with Your Donors
Although many fundraisers understand “academically” that building relationships with donors is key to raising funds, I’ve found that many don’t really know what cultivation really means or how to go about it. This week, I’m speaking to a group of fundraisers in Texas. My keynote is on how to get started raising major gifts. But before … [Read more...]
Holiday Donor Gifts that Keep on Giving – Without Costing a Thing
November is all about gratitude. Every year we learn more and more about how gratitude impacts giving. One of the main reasons that donors give (consciously or otherwise) is to feel good. When we (as nonprofit staff and board members) express genuine gratitude to our donors, they feel good about giving and are more likely to give … [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...]
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