How can your nonprofit plan for the future in a sustainable, measured way that sets your entire team up for success? By creating a nonprofit strategic plan!
A strategic plan is a document that identifies the goals your organization needs to achieve in the next one to five years to get closer to accomplishing its mission. It also outlines how you’ll work toward those goals.
A strong nonprofit plan can help you ensure your current and future projects are aligned with your larger v [...]
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 [...]
Your nonprofit knows that putting together a fundraising event is no easy feat! Between setting up an event committee, booking a venue, and creating an engaging program agenda, a lot of work goes into crafting the perfect event. However, regardless of how much you plan for your events, their success largely depends on how well you’re able to market them to your supporters.
Your nonprofit has many marketing tools at its disposal, but one of the best ways to expand your reach and stir [...]
For nonprofits like yours, effective financial planning is essential to furthering your mission. Not only does it allow you to fund your various programs while still being able to pay the bills, but it also sets your organization up for long-term growth and sustainability.
The most important financial planning tool at your nonprofit’s disposal is your annual operating budget. This document details all of the expenses your organization expects to incur in a given year, as well as all [...]
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 [...]
Your nonprofit needs funding from individual donors and grantmaking organizations to fulfill its mission. As technology advances, more and more opportunities to secure this essential revenue online become available.
The Google Ad Grant is one of these game-changing opportunities. Unlike traditional grants, the Google Ad Grant is an in-kind contribution that awards $10,000 in free ad credits to eligible organizations every month. With these dedicated funds for marketing, you can tailor your [...]
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 [...]
For many nonprofits, a majority of their annual fundraising is collected in the last few months of the year, if not the last few days. Between reaching out to new donors, hosting year-end campaigns, and keeping your data organized, the end of the year will likely be a busy season for your nonprofit.
Fortunately, there are a few strategies nonprofits can implement to keep their campaign on target and ensure it finds an audience of receptive supporters. In this guide, we’ll explor [...]
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 [...]
If you are employed by a relatively new nonprofit that has grown steadily since its founding, congratulations: you are on the path to success. You established your board, vision and mission statements, engaged an initial group of donors, hired your core staff and created community impact through your programming. What’s the next step? In a word: VOLUNTEERS.
Besides financial contributions, the gifts of time and talent are the most important donations that supporters can make to your [...]
From email marketing to website marketing to direct mail marketing, there are pros and cons to each method of audience engagement. On the other hand, not every one of your current supporter base and potential prospects will resp [...]
Advocacy campaigns have the power to connect your nonprofit with new audiences while transforming the world for the better. With an advocacy campaign, you can engage donors on the issues they care about, introduce your nonprofit to new supporters, and further your cause by lobbying for social change, all while earning donations and getting your nonprofit’s name out there.
Of course, your nonprofit won’t attract new supporters and activists without the help of your marketi [...]
During 2020, nonprofit professionals around the country moved to their home offices. Working remotely came with its own challenges, from communicating with coworkers to building sustainable habits for your organization in the new context.
While many people turned to Netflix to fill their newfound time during the COVID-19 pandemic, others decided this was the perfect opportunity to start developing their own professional skills. Now that we’re getting used to the new normal and vaccin [...]
No matter how perfect your website’s current design is, you’ll need to update it at some point in the near future. Regularly updating your nonprofit’s website is part of running a website, but sometimes nonprofits aren’t sure what they should be updating.
In addition to WordPress’s routine system updates, you should take the time for routine cleanup and content updates to ensure your website remains both relevant and secure. No matter how much your supporters [...]
Nonprofit financial sustainability is necessary for organizations like yours to develop lasting strategies that help you not only maintain your current standing but also grow.
CharityProud’s article on sustainability explains that economically sustainable nonprofits “operate within their financial means and use their inherent resources responsibly. Your resources include both tangible (donors, technology) and intangible (staff skillsets, community partners) things.” [...]
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 [...]
When working in the non-profit world, we talk a lot about our organizational values. Our mission. Our core beliefs. Our purpose. Even in the for-profit world, many organizations proudly and prominently hang their values on their walls. There are sections on websites devoted to the organizational mission. They are showcased in strategic plans and annual reports.
With all this talk about who an organization is, what they stand for, and why they do what they do, you would think [...]
So you went through the interview process and got the job of your dreams! You’re going to be working at a nonprofit where you have a deep connection with the mission and will be surrounded by other like-minded colleagues. You walk in on your first day and think to yourself, where do I start? You ask your colleague for a login to your database may receive one of the following answers:
What database? Do you mean QuickBooks, Constant Contact, EventBrite and SignUpGenius? Haha! Her [...]
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 [...]
