Blogs and Articles about Nonprofit Information and Best Practices

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Tips on Making Your Fundraising Race a Winner

When planning a fundraising race, representing a cause or incorporating a theme can be an effective way to draw more participants. Elite runners will run a race because it fits into their training program for a greater goal they are working toward or because they simply love the sport of running. Whether there is a cause or theme, the serious runners may not notice as much. It is not likely [...]

Donor Thank-You Letters: 6 Actionable Tips

The power of donor thank yous is in their ability to foster lasting relationships and keep the conversation going after a donation has been made. With that said, the significance of crafting and sending high-quality thank yous cannot be overstated. Most often, thank yous are sent through one of two channels: email or direct mail. Depending on your organization's resources and the donor you’re acknowledging, you may choose one method [...]

5 Steps to Becoming a Stronger Networker

You curled your hair and put on your patent leather shoes. You even put on lipstick without your mom’s permission. You are ready for your first junior high dance. Will you ask Bobby to slow dance or stand near the wall with friends? Will you go near the chip bowl, or do you not want to run into Mr. Smead, the algebra teacher/chaperone? This dance was supposed to be fun, [...]

6 Ways to Be a Rock Star Nonprofit Mentor

Mentorship is the sharing of your expertise, experiences and advice with someone who does not have them. They are key to business success. Seventy-five percent of corporate managers believe mentorship was crucial to their own success. Mentorship is less common in the nonprofit world, but there are ways to change that. For example, two advice-oriented groups — the Center for Nonprofit Development and the SCORE Mentors Group on LinkedIn — [...]

10 Things Nonprofits Can Learn from Apple Stores

Guy Kawasaki, recently wrote a great post about a book titled The Apple Experience. There is much that nonprofits can learn from one of the best retail environments out there. Here is a quick summary of his points. Stop selling stuff - "Selling stuff" isn't very inspiring, instead focus on how you can... Enrich lives - Focus on this and magical things happen Hire for smiles - People skills over technical [...]

Identify & Reach Your Audience: Top Questions to Ask

The very first step in any communications or marketing strategy is defining your target audience so that you can tailor your message or pitch accordingly. For businesses, this is usually your typical potential buyers of a product or service. For a nonprofit, it could be potential clients for a program, volunteers for an initiative, advocates to spread a message, or donors to support a cause. Try to keep it to [...]

3 Web Analytics Metrics Nonprofits Should Know

This post was originally published on 2 Dogs Media's blog. It is being shared here with their permission. Your nonprofit website is critical in helping you achieve your goals – but without proper analysis and data, there is no way you can know how to properly market, target and modify your website to meet those goals. NONPROFIT GOALS A typical non-profit website will want to achieve the following: Educate — [...]

The Best Way to Help Someone: Shut Up and Listen!

I was recently blown away by a TED Talk titled, Ernesto Sirolli: Want to help someone? Shut up and listen! As a young Italian aid worker in Africa back in the 70's, Ernesto learned how we often get helping so wrong. The talk is so good that I not only encourage you to watch the entire 17 minutes video yourself, but also took the time to write extensive notes for those of [...]

Surprise! New Donors, Out of the Blue

Everyone wants one. Not every organization gets one. Guess what? Surprise new donors are...well, surprising! Organizations aspire to nurturing the kind of donors who make an unexpected bequest, one of the frequent ways donors truly surprise nonprofits. These surprise donors are ones who never interact with your planned giving program. Most often they have never previously written a check. And when affinity works its own magic, you [...]

Revolving Doors: What’s a Nonprofit To Do About Employee Turnover, Part 1

Today, some nonprofit employees seem like rolling stones. They come in, work for a few years or less, and leave to other opportunities. Why are employees--particularly fundraisers--“gathering no moss”? Can organizations effectively quell the revolving door trend? The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports in Half of Fundraisers in the Top Job Would Like to Quit, that fifty percent of chief fundraisers plan to leave their jobs within two years. Forty percent are [...]

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