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1. Competition is fierce and everywhere. Nonprofits don’t only compete with other nonprofits. They also compete with private sector businesses and Uncle Sam (the tax… Read More
A couple of weeks ago, my longtime friend Dr. Russell James presented his top recommendations for fundraisers to consider especially during the coronavirus era. If… Read More
Nearly ten years ago I made a new friend. It started out with an error. I wrote a blog post about the link between childlessness… Read More
Before we begin. The 2020 Major Gift Benchmark Study asked people working in nonprofit organizations (n=580) what they consider to be a major gift, how… Read More
This is part 3 of 3 in a series. For the first post, go here and for the second post, go here. 5. Engage and offer,… Read More
This is part 2 of 3 in a series. For the previous post, go here. 3. Kill self-doubt Some in your organization might be saying… Read More
1. Don’t Panic It’s the first rule of crisis management. When we panic we make bad decisions. Many of us have been facing closures, lockdowns… Read More
We are going to get through this, and history proves it. For many of us, this is not the first economic downturn we have seen… Read More
In the age of Fundraising Climate Change, leadership at nonprofits is needed more than ever. However, what I learned last year is that leadership is… Read More
I hear the following all the time when I ask fundraisers about their efforts to land meetings with major and legacy donors: “I tried calling,… Read More
It’s no longer 80-20 but, rather, 70/.7 According to our research, tons of nonprofits spend most of their fundraising budget on efforts focused on acquiring… Read More
Some people really know how to be givers. You know what I mean don’t you? From time to time all of us come across people… Read More
Nonprofits tend to get addicted to transactions they generate mostly by aiming marketing toward potential supporters with low-capacity. I call it ‘spray and pray’ marketing… Read More
Recently a lot of people have been writing about the high level of turnover among fundraisers in our field. As reported in The Chronicle of… Read More
The power of convenience as an influencer and motivator of outcomes is enormous and should never be underestimated. Ours is a culture of convenience; we… Read More
At MarketSmart, we don’t close sales and we don’t close deals. When it comes to how to ask for a gift, you’ll see there’s a… Read More
Brace yourself. This is a long post because there’s a lot to be said. I wrote it because digital will-writing tools are popping up to… Read More
Direct mail is NOT dead! However, ‘spray and pray‘ direct mail should be! Long live one-to-one, highly relevant, personalized communications— including direct mail letters! Direct… Read More
This is a first! I’ve never had anyone write a guest post for my blog. But when I saw what Daphne Powell was doing to… Read More
Alignment. Have you ever met someone for the first time but felt like you had known them forever? Like you had a mysterious connection instantly?… Read More
In case you’ve never heard of it… The Fundraising Report Card is a little application I had my staff build a couple of years ago…. Read More
This email wasted my time and annoyed me because… I don’t know this person I don’t know this organization I didn’t give her or them… Read More
Let me know what you think about my top 10 reasons why some fundraisers might be uncomfortable making the ask: 10. They are in the wrong job and… Read More
I think most campaign feasibility studies leave a ton of money on the table. Here’s a hyper-simplified description of how it usually works. You hire… Read More
Feeling like your job is getting harder because donor expectations have changed and competition for the charitable dollar is growing?
Finding that the old orthodoxies and conventions espoused by so-called experts in online echo-chambers and at conferences don’t work anymore?
Want to help more people make impact by facilitating their acts of philanthropy but feel like too many obstacles keep getting in your way?
Then this book is for you.
Engagement Fundraising was developed from the perspective of a donor who discovered firsthand that the impersonal, spray-and-pray approaches of his beloved charity were not only offensive but also wasteful and ineffective. So he took action. And now, you can too.
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