What you should know about your high net worth volunteers?

7 years ago

Great volunteer opportunities and experiences are essential for your nonprofit (as discussed before). Here's what the data shows your high net…

Why your wealthy donors love donor advised funds and why you should care

7 years ago

Donor Advised Funds... There are plenty of people who don't like 'em. They say that they are holding pens for…

Why go to Amazon when you can get it here for free?

7 years ago

Each year my amazing staff grab the best, most popular blog posts from the prior year to create a book for…

The 4 levels of donor commitment according to Mal Warwick

7 years ago

For those of you who are new to the field, Mal Warwick played a tremendous leadership role in fundraising and…

14 things you must know about your donors to win major gifts (including planned gifts)

7 years ago

Here are 14 things you must know about your donors if you want to raise major and planned gifts (13 of…

Do we really need science to help us raise more money?

7 years ago

Thanks to scientific research, we now know conclusively that giving to others makes us feel good about ourselves, which in…

If you don't read this right now, you'll miss out!

7 years ago

After reading that headline, did you feel a sense of urgency? Sorry to trick you but I wanted you to…

Why you don't need to update your planned giving web pages as much as you might think

7 years ago

A longstanding misconception has been spread around for too long. Your planned giving web pages don’t need to be updated…

Do you know the names of your donor's influencers?

7 years ago

Life stories are like fingerprints. No two are alike and everyone has them. All of our life stories are filled…

How to discover planned gifts using interns because you can't afford a telemarketing firm

7 years ago

1. Make sure the intern cares about your mission 2. Have the intern view videos, read reports and talk to…

Why You Should Stop Emphasizing Tax Savings When Promoting Planned Gifts

7 years ago

A well-known speaker once led the opening presentation at the ACGA Annual Symposium right in my backyard— Baltimore, Maryland. In…

Here's why you should remove the word "bequest" from your vocabulary

7 years ago

The word bequest sucks when it comes to generating planned gift revenue. Stop using it. Here's why: No one uses…

3 big reasons why some fundraisers should not critique creative

7 years ago

Recently one of our beloved clients critiqued something we thought she should do by saying, "Well if I saw that envelope…

Top 10 reasons why donors like taking donor surveys

7 years ago

Here are the top 10 reasons why donors like taking donor surveys: 1. They want to be perceived as (or…

7 ways your competitors are stealing your gifts

7 years ago

Planned gifts are often the largest gifts a donor ever makes to a nonprofit, and they are certainly counted among…

4 things pizza and major gift fundraising have in common

7 years ago

A while back I wrote a blog post that included 5 best practices for delivering progress reports to major donors (sometimes…

RIDDLE: How do you measure the success (or failure) of your planned giving program?

7 years ago

Today I'm very proud to provide a guest post written by one of MarketSmart's brilliant, yet curious, Account Managers—Lizzie Weiland. She's…

The single worst way to evaluate your planned giving marketing program

7 years ago

Recently someone told me that their current planned giving marketing efforts were not working. "How do you know?" I asked.…

Can you tell your supporters that a CGA can deliver "GUARANTEED" income or not?

7 years ago

I attended a local monthly planned giving event a while back and learned a lot about how not to market…

3 amazing quotes from major donors

7 years ago

Here are 3 amazing quotes from major donors worth reading: "I walk over to my desk, take out my pen,…

It’s time for the nonprofit sector to stop whining about Donor Advised Funds

7 years ago

I'm getting really tired of hearing people complain about donor advised funds. For instance, it was reported by the Chronicle…

3 major donor myths broken by Andrew Olsen

7 years ago

Andrew Olsen knows a thing or two about direct marketing. On his blog, he debunks 3 major donor myths that…

Don’t count promises. Measure your pipeline and count legacy gift dollars instead.

7 years ago

The goal for legacy gift fundraising is to raise money right? In sports they say it doesn't matter how many…

19 reasons why nonprofit donor surveys are awesome

7 years ago

Here are 19 reasons why nonprofit donor surveys are awesome: They help you learn about why your donors care about…