Putting Ourselves in the Donor’s Place
If you did not know me and I approached you on behalf of a good cause, would you write me…
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How to Deepen Your Major Donor Relationships
For most large and even mid-size nonprofits, your major donors contribute the great majority of your revenue. According to the…
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Outdated Fundraising Metrics Are Hurting You: Why It’s Time to Embrace a Risk-Adjusted Pipeline
If you’re still counting calls, visits, and solicitations to measure fundraising success, it’s time to rethink your strategy. Those traditional…
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Why Legacy Programs Are Essential—And A Planned Giving Consultant Who Is Leading the Way Forward
Legacy giving is one of the most powerful ways for nonprofits to ensure long-term sustainability and deepen relationships with their…
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How to Use Fundraising Automation Emails for Raising Major Gifts
You’ve heard of marketing automation, and you’ve likely heard of fundraising automation too. And if you’re like many nonprofits, you…
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New and Improved Fundraising Metrics
The metrics that will actually lead to improved fundraising performance will not be about tasking fundraisers but about creating the…
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Low Dollar vs Major Gifts Fundraising – It’s the Underlying Strategy that Matters, not the Amounts
Low-Dollar vs. Major Gifts Fundraising – Strategy Over Amounts In the nonprofit world, leaders, board members, and staff are faced…
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Donor Cultivation: A Term We’re Using Out of Context
“Cultivation.” It’s one of the most frequently used words in fundraising, but used by so many in so many different…
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The Power of Emotional Intelligence in Fundraising: A Lesson from Bill Crouch
Over the last decade, I’ve had the privilege of learning from Bill Crouch, the founder of BrightDot and a fundraising…
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A Fundraiser’s First Obligation
A fundraiser’s first obligation is to philanthropy itself. All ethical fundraisers and fundraising organizations must commit themselves, at a bare…
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8 Ways to Cultivate and Strengthen Your Mid-Level Donor Relationships
You know that your mid-level donor relationships matter. These amazing supporters have greater potential to become major donors. They have…
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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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The Truth about Wealthy People and Philanthropy Should Affect Your Fundraising… But Does It?
In your organization, it’s likely you have a bunch of people who make five or six figures interacting with people…
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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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3 Donor Related Fundraising Challenges Keeping Your Revenue Down
Major gifts fundraising faces many challenges. That’s not news, and those challenges come in many forms, from many directions. But…
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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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10 Traits to Look for When Hiring a Major Gifts Officer
Gift officer turnover is a major challenge for many nonprofit organizations. While there are many reasons for this, and we…
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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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Mastering Donor Outreach: 5 Mistakes to Avoid and 6 Best Practices to Boost Your Results
Donor outreach is hard. There’s no sugarcoating required. We all know it. But like anything, there is a skillset, and…
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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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Why Traditional Major Donor Assignment Processes No Longer Work As Well As They Once Did — And What You Can Do Instead
It’s amazing how many so-called best practices get fixed and set in place, and then never questioned from that point…
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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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Why Fundraiser Turnover Is So High
Fundraiser turnover is an epidemic. And that’s not just our opinion or an attempt to be dramatic. Actual researchers used…
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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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