1 Fundraising Finding: Permanence and Death Reminders
Today’s experiment highlights a key legacy-fundraising concept. Mortality reminders trigger two responses: avoidance and/or pursuit of symbolic immortality. The second…
More
How to Use LinkedIn for Outreach to Major Donors and Prospects
You may not realize it, but LinkedIn is often the most effective social media channel for making initial contact with…
More
The Big Bequest Misunderstanding: Why You Can’t Ignore Your Oldest Friends
Half of all charitable bequest dollars will come from people passing at this age and older: 89. The big wealth…
More
5 Fundraising Stats on Major Gifts of Assets: 2.3%, 60%, 77%, 6X, and 50X
2.3% of household wealth is held in cash and checkable accounts; stop ignoring the other 97.7%. 60% of the largest…
More
Why Your Board and Wealthy Donors Don’t Send You Any Referrals
We all know the value of networking. We also all know that some of your best and most valuable donors…
More
The Key to Improving Fundraising Results: Improve Your Posture
So many ill-conceived ideas about metrics and other means of evaluating fundraising performance are rooted in the terribly false notion…
More
What Is Preliminary Qualification for Major Donors and Prospects?
For decades, major gifts fundraising has revolved around a process for working with wealthy donors to raise money. It involved…
More
A Fundraising Process That Builds Donor Trust
The “ambush ask”—luring donors to meetings under false or veiled pretenses, then asking for “a gift”—has done significant damage to…
More
What’s Your Strategy?
If you’ve ever cracked open a book on how to play chess, you know the feeling: A swirl of foreign…
More
Why A Gift Officer’s Actual Job Is NOT to Raise Money
From the nonprofit’s perspective, the job of the gift officer often seems to be to convey wealth from supporters. But…
More
Who’s Your Customer?
In 2010, Procter & Gamble had a dilemma. The massive consumer products company based in Cincinnati, Ohio had just signed…
More
The Best Long Term Fundraising Strategy: Recruiting Volunteers
If you recruit the right volunteers (those with giving histories) and give them tasks worthy of their talents almost 80…
More
Introducing the Staff Position You Never Knew You Needed That Can Boost Major Gifts Efficiency and Reduce Turnover
There’s too much to do and not enough time to do it. While this may be a common feeling in…
More
Why The Affluent Give
The most common and persistent reasons for giving, as documented in the top two bars of the chart below, underscore…
More
The Leadership Attribute We Need Most: Master Weaver
We will not build better advancement operations… – or sustain fundraising success – or build stronger cultures of philanthropy –…
More
6 Reasons Why Major Donor Prospects Ignore Your Outreach Efforts
Major donor outreach isn’t easy. When you have success, it feels great. But more often, your efforts to make contact…
More
Fundraisers Need to Be Passionate About More Than Mission
Many job descriptions claim to be looking for a fundraiser who will be “passionate about our mission.” That’s a good…
More
Stewardship with Soul: Emotional Intelligence Beyond the Gift
Too many fundraisers treat stewardship like the closing chapter. The thank-you note. The impact report. The ribbon-cutting ceremony. But in…
More
Fundraising Boss vs. Advancement Leader
Fundraising bosses want you to get gifts; advancement leaders want you to build partnerships. Fundraising bosses want you to solicit…
More
Activity vs. Strategic Activity: Which Works Better for Major and Legacy Gift Fundraising Operations?
I worry when fundraising leaders confuse activity with advancement. Too often I hear that staff are celebrated for how many…
More
One Size Doesn’t Fit All: How Emotionally Intelligent Fundraisers Adapt to Donor Styles
Ever had a donor go quiet on you after a meeting that felt great? Or sat across from someone who…
More
The First Commandment of Advancement: Show Don’t Tell
A donor once shared with me why he had given so generously to an oceanographic institute on the far coast…
More
Navigating Internal Tensions: Emotional Intelligence Inside the Fundraising Office
Most people think of emotional intelligence as a tool for managing donor relationships. But some of the most critical applications…
More
How To Irritate Good Donors
Want to know how to get under your donors’ skin? Ask them to do something small after they’ve made a big…
More