Every nonprofit understands how important major donors are—they provide the largest contributions to your annual fund, invest in your growth through donations to capital campaigns, and serve as long-term ambassadors for your cause. Their commitment to your organization warrants plenty of individualized attention from your staff members, especially when you’re trying to solicit a prospect’s first major gift.
However, cultivating major donor relationships is an intricate pr [...]
In the digital age of nonprofit fundraising, data is an invaluable asset that holds the key to a world of possibilities. Not only is effective data management vital for allocating money and filing taxes, but it’s also crucial for driving greater fundraising results and stewarding meaningful donor relationships.
If your data is just sitting in your CRM, you’re probably missing out on valuable engagement opportunities. When your nonprofit starts focusing on donor engagement, you [...]
Fundraising is your nonprofit’s bread and butter. Whether you’re working to fill your annual fund, raise money for a specific program, or finish out the year strong with a holiday-themed fundraising push, you’re consistently designing and implementing fundraising campaigns to ensure you have the resources to deliver your mission.
But there’s one kind of campaign that is rather unique—a capital campaign. These are large-scale projects that nonprofits cond [...]
Retaining your nonprofit’s donors depends on the effectiveness of your stewardship. Especially for first-time donors, you need engagement strategies like tailored communications, appealing involvement opportunities, and genuine appreciation to keep them invested in your mission. After all, you’ve put in the work to successfully acquire a new donor and you don’t want to lose them now.
Proactive stewardship will ensure you not only keep new donors interested in your no [...]
Being in nonprofits for 10+ years, I quickly learned that the engagement of your supporters goes a long way. Another thing that I learned is that engagement doesn’t have to be hard. You just have to learn the basics and decide to do them right. As the title of this blog suggests, successful engagement is a multistep process that centers around the following five steps.
1. Get to Know Your Donors A crucial step in any good relationship is laying the right foundation. Wh [...]
If you are a 1-, 2-, or 3-person shop, wearing multiple hats in your nonprofit office in addition to needing to fundraise: this post is for you. Nonprofit leaders are often brought in because of their passion for the cause and ability to run an amazing program for the community they serve--but did we also mention you need to fundraise to keep your doors open? Where do you start? What are the essentials when you would rather be spending your time saving the world? (Psst…it’s not pla [...]
Presidents’ Day is a federal holiday in the United States that began as a celebration of George Washington’s birthday and has expanded as a day to honor the memory of past presidents. In addition to their services to our nation, did you know that many of the men formerly known as POTUS were avid philanthropists? Today we’re taking a look back at what the presidents have to teach us about why donors engage in charitable giving.
Philanthropy Is an Investment in the Future [...]
Do you know off the top of your head, at this minute, what your donor retention rate is? You should! Don’t let donors slip through the cracks or fall off the radar when there are plenty of tools out there to assist in keeping them engaged and continuing their giving habits.
This begins with making donor retention a priority in your organization. The amount of time and money you spend acquiring a new donor compared to what you will spend with an existing donor is significant. Take a l [...]
While we know you can never thank a donor enough, the Golden Rule of Stewardship is that we should be thanking our donors seven times. SEVEN TIMES?! I speak with some nonprofits that feel lucky if they get one end-of-year thank you out the door before closing the books. After I pick my jaw off the ground I remind them how important it is for timely acknowledgements, but also try to provide a few suggestions of easy ways to remind a donor how much we love them without spending too much time or m [...]
