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Don’t Carry Out Your Mission on the Backs of Your Staff

Julian was a superstar young staffer on our client’s Annual Fund team. He doubled his area's contributions in his first year. Using his social and digital skills, he ramped up donor engagement and gifts. In only six weeks, Julian…

How to Appreciate Your Fundraising Team

In the nonprofit sector, it seems many people doing the hard work are not often thanked or appreciated. The fundraising team lavishes attention on supporters. But who remembers those hardworking staffers themselves? Many great fundraisers…

Why Are We Facing a Fundraiser Exodus?

Culture of Philanthropy

Are fundraisers ready to leave their jobs? Are we really facing a future fundraiser exodus This week’s big news is a new survey of fundraisers conducted by the Harris Poll for AFP and the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The survey found that…

The #1 Secret of Raising Lots of Money? Face Time With Major Gift Donors

Donor Cultivation, Major Gift Fundraising

Don't we love our major gift donors? And we all know smart fundraisers should be spending their time with these lovely folks. But it can be really tough to get out of your office. And that’s a problem when you’re trying to raise…

Penelope Burk’s Favorite Wealth Screening Tool (Video)

Annual Giving, Donor-Centered Fundraising, Major Gift Fundraising

https://vimeo.com/352765737/f252bfdbc3 Here's a hot tip from fundraising guru Penelope Burk. Kathryn Gamble and I had lunch with her at the NC Philanthropy Conference in Charlotte, NC this week. Kathryn and I had a packed room for our…

Five Strategies that Will Motivate Donors

Asking for Donations

How do you motivate your donors to give? It's a question I get asked a lot. Especially with the numbers of donors in decline, we have to do a better and better job at fundraising. If fewer people are giving, our appeals need to be…

What Do You Just Love About Fundraising?

Inspiration

Here's a little inspiration for fundraisers! Fundraising can bring such joy to many people - and also yourself. There's nothing in the world like seeing what your own work has accomplished - to create new good in the world. And. . . to…

Trend #7: Monthly Donors Are Going UP!

Annual Giving

Great news - more and more people are becoming monthly donors to their favorite causes! Thank goodness. After so much dismal reporting about small donors dropping off, overall rates of giving going down, and retention rates declining…

Trend #4: 5 Ways to Overcome Declining Trust and Wary Donors

Annual Giving

This is the fourth installment in my series on major trends that will impact your fundraising results: the huge issue of declining trust and wary donors. Donors are losing trust in nonprofits - and giving less. So how do we deal with the…

Trend #2: Gifts Over $1k Are Going Up – And What To Do About It

Major Gift Fundraising

I think it's time for a major gift checkup! Why? Some giving trends are showing that major donors are still brimming with generosity. What does the crystal ball say about fundraising today and tomorrow? Here’s the big news: A recent…

Small Donors are Disappearing . . . and What You Can Do About It

Asking for Donations

One of the most disturbing trends in fundraising today is that small donors are disappearing. I interviewed Roger Craver of the Agitator/Donor Voice Blog this week. (Roger is one of the direct mail/multi-channel gurus of our field, and I read…

The Asking Conversation: How to Ask for “Permission to Ask”

Asking for Donations, Major Gift Fundraising

So much of fundraising comes down to the Asking Conversation, doesn’t it? It’s inevitable -- because we are simply in the business of raising money. But asking can be tough: in worst cases – it’s full of fear and trepidation. Other…

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