Many organizations make the fatal mistake of asking their donors for gifts over and over again without a break for other types of communication. However, when you don’t vary the type of communications and engagement opportunities with your supporters, your donors may start to feel like an ATM, always giving funds but receiving little in
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Continue readingWhen it comes down to it, successful fundraising is about successfully executing the basics. When you want to raise money for something, be sure to do these fundraising basics: Research Remember, run your dollar goal through a gift range calculator. This helps you know what levels of gifts to be looking for. Engage Before you
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Continue readingMost fundraising professionals know that having good information is the secret to increased revenue, stronger relationships, and more successful appeals. By analyzing the donor data you have available, you can learn volumes about donor motivation and behavior, then use this information to guide your fundraising approach. Donor data can help you with segmentation, marketing, stewardship,
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Continue readingFor decades, we’ve known that face-to-face meetings were the best way to raise major gifts. Talking directly to people. Taking them on a tour of the project. Being in the same space as the donors. Meeting face-to-face is so important, most major gift officers’ job performance is measured by how many in-person meetings they have,
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Continue readingDid you read the “Outspoken Donor” article in a recent Chronicle of Philanthropy? I didn’t like it very much. But some of the donor’s experiences with fundraisers are chilling. For example, she says: “Development officers sometimes think that because you gave money to one particular cause, you’re expected to give to something else, too, and
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Continue readingSo many fundraising problems can be solved by interacting with donors. Getting to know them. Asking about their interests. Learning their stories. I call it “seeing donors in their natural habitat.” But if you’ve had years and years of only focusing on your nonprofit and what you do and how great your staff is, interacting
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Continue reading.One of the hardest stages of asking for money is getting the appointment. The good news is that getting the appointment is mostly about consistency and polite persistence. But hardwiring plays a role too. In my Quadrant 3 Leadership training, I show participants how our hardwiring can impact our leadership: abilities, behaviors, and motivations. Most
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Continue readingNonprofits love sending email. It doesn’t take all the printing time of direct mail. And it costs less. But what if your emails aren’t getting to your list? In the last few weeks, Google and Yahoo have tweaked their algorithms – the systems they use to determine if your email is wanted or unwanted. In fact,
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Continue readingExcellent fundraisers know that fundraising is about a relationship with a donor. Since they’re a “donor,” the relationship is centered around their giving. But it is a relationship. That giving is linked to a donor’s values and passions – things that make her uniquely human. And it’s those values and passions that contribute to a genuine
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Continue readingLast month, at the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference, I saw Jeff Brooks help nonprofits understand donor communication by sharing a great image. I wrote about it to my Fundraising Kick email subscribers. But I wanted to share it here. Hopefully it’ll help as you write your next fundraising letter or thank you note! SUB: Who’s leading
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