You Won’t Inspire Philanthropic Investment By Acting Like a Charity
Charitable appeals stress pressing need and urge the would-be donors to give immediately and out of empathy in response to…
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Strategies for Nonprofit Leaders in an Era of Declining Confidence
What must nonprofit leaders do to counter the public’s declining trust in institutions? First, the decline is real and pervasive,…
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The Top 4 Motivations for Giving and the Peril of Ignoring, Misinterpreting or Underestimating Them
Survey after survey we see the same things, and have for years. When we ask donors why they give to…
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The Most Important, Least Understood Fundraising Truth
You don’t raise more money by converting more prospects into donors each year, but by converting more current donors into…
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Don’t Squander Your Philanthropic Potential
Do you want to know the secret to being a better fundraiser? Segment and tailor your funding requests to your…
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Fundraising’s False Proposition
It’s so common we don’t even see it any more. We keep putting forward a false proposition – that all…
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To Find Your Best Fundraising Opportunities, Remember This
A significant portion of donors are underwhelmed or dissatisfied with their giving experience, including yours. You may have assumed they…
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Don’t Chase Prospects, Look for the Willing
When we think of people as prospects, we approach them, more often than not, with our lists of what we…
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The Ongoing Discouragement of Our Best Fundraisers When Their Talents are Most Needed
I hear from them almost every day. Smart, hardworking, principled, mission-driven fundraisers. They share examples of the mindless, myopic metrics…
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We Can’t Make People Philanthropic But We Can Deepen or Discourage Their Philanthropy
In a long career that led me to interact with thousands of donors, I can say with certainty that I…
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Fundraising is Not About “The Ask.”
Fundraising is not about “The Ask.” But it is about asking the questions below. When you do, “the ask” becomes…
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Donors Won’t Feel Like They Belong if Your Advancement Staff Doesn’t
How strong is your advancement team’s sense of belonging? I have condensed a great deal of donor research, both my…
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Donors Won’t Feel Like They Belong if Your Advancement Staff Doesn’t
How strong is your advancement team’s sense of belonging? I have condensed a great deal of donor research, both my…
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Here’s How To Really “Qualify” Your Top Prospects
Ask your CEO to commit to six 90-minute no-holds-barred dialogic sessions, real or virtual or some combination thereof, limited to…
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What We Can Learn From Giving to Higher Education
It’s the enduring appeal of the scholarship. It is a way for one person to help another person realize their…
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Putting the Right Idea in Front of The Right Donor in the Right Way at the Right Time
Put the right idea in front of the right door in the right way at the right time. The more…
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The Great Obstacle To Professional Growth, Fulfillment and Sound Decision Making
The Great Obstacle To Professional Growth, Fulfillment and Sound Decision Making It’s the need to be more honest with ourselves.…
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What Is and Isn’t Philanthropic
To be philanthropic is to acknowledge that we are in this together; that: Your misfortune is mine because I have…
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What They Don’t Teach in Fundraising School
Do you know what they don’t teach in fundraising school? The situational realities of fundraising, such as: You’re given a…
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The Heavy Lifts of Fundraising
Seemingly random events earlier in our lives actually serve as omens for what we will encounter the rest of our…
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A Positive Trend In Fundraising That’s Applicable to All We Do
“What trends are you seeing across your peer group or aspirant peers?” I asked a client team last week. “Campaigns…
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Philanthropic Facilitation and the Art of Matchmaking
As Carlo Robustelli, V.P. of College Advancement at Dickinson College explains, “We’re not miracle workers, we’re matchmakers.” Carlo is trying…
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The Real Way to Raise Money
Do you want to know the real way to raise money? It’s not complicated. Provide donors with what money can’t…
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The Way You Fundraise Matters
There are lots of ways to fundraise. All of them can be said to work in some ways but the…
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