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It always frustrates me to hear fundraisers or their consultants concern themselves with vanity metrics like response rates for lead generation efforts. Honestly, I’m tired… Read More
I keep seeing software or wealth screening companies providing fundraisers with target ask amounts. I don’t get it. How on earth can a software provider… Read More
First, wealth screening. Over the past 10 to 20 years, wealth screening has become a common practice for fundraising shops. But staff should always remember… Read More
We’re getting pretty good at marketing rollover IRAs here at MarketSmart. Here are some of the things we’ve learned as we’ve crafted a value proposition… Read More
Wiz-bang tech? I was talking to a fundraiser and he said, “We’ve got this cool system that includes pre-written estate planning e-newsletters I can send to… Read More
Let’s start at the beginning. Almost 10 years ago, when MarketSmart was a marketing agency for private sector businesses and I first offered to help… Read More
I taught my kids to avoid using the words job, work and can’t. To me a job is what some people get so they can work to get money; and if they fail to find one, they might say it’s… Read More
1. “I’d like to meet you to update you / tell you what we do / tell you what we’ve been doing, etc.” I’ve had… Read More
If you work for a college or university, you already know that many of your donors give because of the experience they had when they attended your institution. For… Read More
Here’s how the ultra-rich make sure you can’t figure out how much money they really have: They figure out ways to evade taxes entirely They use… Read More
Fundraisers like you are in a difficult spot. You’re constantly being asked to raise more money by your board of directors, but you don’t have… Read More
Wealthy people are not necessarily philanthropists. But philanthropists are usually wealthy. When organizations develop their lists, I think, perhaps, a little too much attention is… Read More
Thinking about sending out a donor survey? If so, be sure to use the survey responses properly so you ‘speak’ personally and relevantly to each… Read More
Catching up. If you read all my previous posts (starting here) about how you can use marketing automation to raise more major and legacy gifts,… Read More
Sadly some fundraisers think they’re playing a game. But if only one participant is playing, what’s the other one doing? Being played! At its core,… Read More
A lot of people feel uncomfortable with moves management but they don’t know why. I think discomfort might arise because it focuses a lot on you and… Read More
One-to-many marketing/fundraising relationships are the same as personal relationships. Trust is essential. But, if you send spammy emails and direct mailers that are impersonal, irrelevant, interruptive,… Read More
Quotas… YUCK! Many major and planned giving professionals are required to secure and carry out a certain number of face-to-face visits each year. This is… Read More
Follow-up failure. Follow-up failure is prevalent in every business category around the world. In 2011, the Harvard Business Review studied 2,241 U.S. companies to see… Read More
Your donors want a partner, not a solicitor. Partners ask for advice before asking for money. Partners looking for advice are looking to collaborate. Partners… Read More
Self-actualization (realizing one’s full potential) rests at the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Donors aim for self-actualization and giving helps them make progress toward that goal…. Read More
In most cases, for most nonprofits… NO! You don’t need to buy a planned giving website. Here’s why: For decades, nonprofit leaders and staff have… Read More
Frustration! Recently I was visiting a customer and one of the fundraisers was very frustrated. Thanks to our system, lots of donors disclosed that they already left… Read More
People want to see themselves as good, just, righteous, and so on. In other words, they want to be heroic. They want to change the… 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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