Last week, we talked about the board’s role. This week, the board focus continues in our fourth tip to remain a philanthropic priority during the economic recovery: Help your board by having regular training sessions. A board member sharing his or her story with a potential donor is one of the most effective ways to raise… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Fundraising
Tuesday Fundraising Tip
To help you remain a philanthropic priority with donors this year, here’s our fundraising tip of the week: Develop a consistent communications program. If the only time your donors ever hear from you is when you’re asking for money, you’re not building relationships. “But we send a newsletter,” you might be thinking. It takes more than… Read more »
How Much Should You Rely on Corporate Giving?
A Jan. 14 article in Business Week discussed the decline in corporate philanthropy during the economic downturn. It also pointed out that companies are giving more strategically, often contributing to causes that will raise their visibility. This is another good reason to diversify your funding sources. As Keith noted in our last blog post, corporate… Read more »
Last-Minute Giving Boosted Year-End Appeals
A Jan. 11 USA Today article excerpted from The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that last-minute gifts boosted some charities’ holiday fundraising. A third of the nearly 400 nonprofit groups that responded to a poll in mid-December said donations since November were higher than they had been at the same time in 2008. Of 181 charities… Read more »
2009: A Year of Challenge and Celebration
“20 years of work we love”: That was our anniversary tagline for 2009. And what a crazy year it was. Along with helping clients build capacity, train their boards, and meet campaign goals, we were called on to make an additional 32 presentations at conferences and events from Atlantic City to New Orleans. Between that… Read more »
Do You Know Your Five Rights?
This month, three of our clients each received major gifts of $100,000, $225,000, and $250,000, all because they were willing to follow the five “rights.” As we always say, it’s important to have the right people ask the right prospect at the right time for the right amount and the right reason. A year and a… Read more »
Who Makes Planned Gifts?
A client recently noted that since they didn’t have any wealthy constituents, planned giving probably wouldn’t work for their nonprofit. While the latest research shows that people who earn $100,000 and above are more likely to leave a charitable bequest, don’t forget about those loyal folks who have donated continuously—even small, annual gifts—to your organization. Frequency… Read more »
Fundraising Ethics: Lesson #1
People who haven’t done major fundraising sometimes hold misconceptions about how the process works. We’ve had questions recently about whether we can guarantee fundraising results or bring our own list of potential donors to a new client. The answer to both questions is no, because both are unethical. As a member of the Giving Institute,… Read more »
Study Says In-Person Asks Get Bigger Gifts
You know how we’re always saying you need to ask for major gifts in person? A new study by Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy and Campbell & Company, “Significant Gifts: Where Donors Direct Their Largest Gifts and Why” proves us right. The study reports that donors who were asked to give in person (to secular… Read more »
Rules of Engagement
With the economy improving, the good news is that end-of-year donations may be up over 2008. But don’t count on your year-end appeal to save you from a down year in fundraising. The Chronicle of Philanthropy just reported on how several charities are approaching fundraising season. One nonprofit director said that because their first year-end… Read more »
