This week, you’re going to be bombarded with ways to show #DonorLove. Much of the advice you get will be standard and sound. Some will be cheesy and tacky. Hopefully some ideas will be original and inspirational. It’s up to you to determine which is which. I suggest doing things that will make you stand out (in a good way) with your donors. … [Read more...]
Top 10 Reasons You WON’T Raise Major Gifts in 2022
After teaching fundraising for more than a decade, I have a pretty good idea of who will raise major gifts and who won’t. There are familiar patterns I've learned to recognize -- markers of success, and markers of failure. Some of these patterns are obvious; others, not so much. I've done a number of posts over the years on what it … [Read more...]
4 Steps to Crush Your Fundraising BHAG in 2022
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...]
Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining: 10 Inspirational Fundraising Clichés
It all started when I recently read the famous quote: Resentment is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die. The quote is attributed to several people. I’m not sure why it struck a chord with me, but I immediately thought -- that applies to fundraisers. It reminded me of a fundraiser named Nancy. I was speaking to … [Read more...]
3 Campaign-Style Ways to Engage Donors BEFORE You Ask for a Major Gift
A common refrain in fundraising is how important it is to engage donors before asking for a gift. And yet, engaging donors is easier said than done. Engaging Major Gift Donors, Campaign-Style Experienced fundraisers know they are supposed to ask donors for advice. In other words, ask them for something other than money. Asking for advice … [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...]
How to Use Your Database to Identify Your Best Donors
Your donor database can be a great resource if you know how to use it to identify your biggest and most loyal donors. How to Identify Your Largest Donors Finding your largest donors can be trickier than you think. You'll need to open your donor database and look at three key reports: Run a report of the largest single gifts given over … [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...]
Raising Major Gifts Post-COVID – Part 4: Stewardship
Stewardship is the fourth and final stage of the fundraising cycle. (Step 1 is Donor Identification, Step 2 is Cultivation and Step 3 is Solicitation.) What is Stewardship? Everything that happens after a gift is made is a part of stewardship. In other words, all forms of expressing gratitude and letting the donor know how their gift was … [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...]
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