Listen, don’t ask

December 4, 2011

What’s the real secret to fundaising success? Last Friday #smNPchat featured guest expert Gail Perry to dish on major gifts in the small shop.  If you’re unfamiliar with Twitter chats or the #smNPchat, you can find out more here.  #smNPchat happens every other Friday and is hosted by yours truly, Marc Pitman and Amy Sept.  [...]

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November’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival | The quintessential guide to giving thanks

November 30, 2011

Welcome to the Nonprofit Blog Carnival round-up for November! This month we asked bloggers to offer up knock-your-socks-off ideas that they’ve used to thank donors.  The entries poured in – and why not?! As UK fundraiser Mark Philips noted in Five things we learned at the IFC, “Calling a donor to thank them (whether you [...]

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Time management for the one-person nonprofit fundraising office

November 28, 2011

If you’re a one-person development and communications department in a busy nonprofit organization, you how challenging it can be.  Your job title consists of: Individual giving manager Event planner Grant writer Database manager Director of stewardship Public relations director Social media manager Webmaster and more How do you keep it all together…or do you?  Studies [...]

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Are you making this mistake in your grant proposals?

November 7, 2011

What’s your biggest grantwriting fear? Awhile back I did a poll of my readers on the biggest fears grantwriters face in writing a grant proposal. Not surprisingly approaching new foundations, fear of rejection and facing a blank page were near the top of the list. After all, who hasn’t suffered writers’ block at one time [...]

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Blackbaud’s report and the future of fundraising

November 4, 2011

  Can it be true?  Blackbaud’s recently released report, Growing Philanthropy in the United States,  notes that philanthropic giving stands at a paltry 2% of the average disposable income – a 40 year average. Yikes! How can nonprofit fundraisers increase giving to keep up with the pace of society’s increased demand? Blackbaud brought together a [...]

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In the words of Charlie Brown …

October 31, 2011

Are you in the midst of drafting your organization’s year-end appeal? I’m working on a number of  appeals right now – and, as you might imagine, my mailbox is filling up with year-end appeals as well.  Without fail every single letter (and one brochure) has made me throw up my hands and yell Why?  They’re [...]

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November’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival | How are you giving Thanks?

October 26, 2011

I’ll be hosting November’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival and what better topic, as Thanksgiving approaches, than giving thanks? According to the author of Donor-Centered Fundraising, Penelope Burk, “90% of donors who start contributing to a particular cause stop giving by the fifth renewal request.” And fundraising expert Adrian Sargeant has noted that “Eight of 10 first-time [...]

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A personalised video thank you that you can emulate

October 24, 2011

What can you take-away from this beautiful video thank you from CharityWater to one very special six-year old who gave up her birthday so that others could have clean drinking water?

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How does one donation stand out from thousands?

October 17, 2011

As the gifts poured in following a membership appeal I created a few years back to approximately 70,000 individuals, one donation in particular stood out.  It was a check written out for $137.33 from a local business owner.  We had experimented with including the local businesses in our mailing for the first time. We ran [...]

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The cure for your organization’s paralysis

October 10, 2011

Early this morning as I was finishing up a 5K run on the nature trail near my home I couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment, along with a wee bit of wonder. You see, about six years ago I woke up one morning and couldn’t walk. The pain was debilitating and I recall [...]

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