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Shape Reputation by Managing Perception
When you were in high school, reputation was everything. How your classmates perceived you, i.e. your way of dressing, what you did for fun, determined whether you had a cool reputation or not. When starting a nonprofit, the way to be cool with the staff, the donors, the board of directors, and the general public involves carefully crafting their perceptions of your organization. Much of this perception building happens as [...]
4 Tips for Managing Your Nonprofit Board
Congratulations, you are now the new executive director of a non-profit organization. One of the most challenging things you will have to do is to effectively “manage up” and work well with your board of directors. As an executive director, it is critically important to set the right tone from the outset and strike a balance that will allow you to do your work and productively collaborate with your board [...]
9 Key Fundraising Performance Indicators Every Nonprofit Should Be Tracking
When it comes to determining how efficiently your nonprofit raises money, there’s nothing quite as helpful as a large pool of accurate, relevant fundraising performance indicators that can objectively show you exactly how well you’re doing. But sometimes, it can be tough to figure out exactly what measures your organization needs to identify where your fundraising performance may be lacking. That said, most nonprofit organizations will always be able to make [...]
Year-End Fundraising Season: Top Tips to Prepare Your Nonprofit
Planning your year-end fundraising strategy is an important process that requires time. So, even if the end of the year is months away, it’s worth it to get started now. After all, your nonprofit will likely be too busy making resolutions for the new year to build an effective strategy amid this vital fundraising period. That’s why preparing months in advance helps your nonprofit capitalize on year-end giving. Donations tend [...]
Four Trends to Watch in Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
The State of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising 2016 Report from DonorDrive has new stats that bring four key trends to light, all of which can dramatically increase your fundraising. DIY is on the rise At the nonprofit conferences everyone is talking about Do It Yourself fundraising. If you're not familiar with it, DIY gives your supporters the opportunity create their own campaigns (based on things like life events, memorials or running in [...]
Donor Retention: 3 Modern Strategies to Maintain Growth
CP_TopNonprofits_X Strategies to Retain the Modern Donor_Feature.jpg Perhaps the most frustrating part of running a nonprofit organization is seeing short term growth in your donor pool disappear from one fundraising campaign to the next. If you want your nonprofit to be successful in the longrun, retaining your donors is a must. Historically, donor retention has been a difficult endeavor. Without the right tools to manage your donor pool, it’s impossible [...]
How Nonprofits Take Advantage of Matching Gifts
One of the largest sources of untapped funding for nonprofit organizations comes from corporate philanthropic programs. These include matching gift programs, in which corporations match employee donations, usually dollar for dollar, to eligible nonprofit organizations. About 65% of Fortune 500 companies offer a program like this, as well as countless other corporations, so the chances that a donor works for a company with a matching gift program is relatively high. [...]
4 Tips for Effective Online Interviews
"While I wouldn't recommend using it for a second round interview, online video interviews are a great way to screen interviewees for the first round," offers Don Tebbe, an Executive Succession & Planning Consultant and Author. "It gives more texture to your interview than a phone call," but he warns that it shouldn't act as a substitute for all face-to-face meetings or for advanced rounds of interviewing. Technology exists to make [...]
Leveraging Linkedin to Connect Your Nonprofit
This post was originally published on our sister site, Third Sector Today Feel at Home on LinkedIn LinkedIn is the nice aunt of social media–it’s more civil, professional, and informational. Its “house” is visited by influencers who bring advice, expertise, and resources like the flowers, candy, and wine you bring to your auntie’s place–all for the taking. This is a place of generosity, sharing, and (usually) professional demeanor. Job seekers [...]
Capital Campaigns: 4 Strategies to Get Your Board Involved
A capital campaign is a fundraising campaign hosted by a nonprofit with a specific dollar amount in mind. There is an intense focus on funding a high-cost project, backed by a nonprofit’s board, and the campaign’s timeline can last upwards of a year, consisting of two phases: the quiet phase and the public phase. The quiet phase comes after your preparation. This is when you’ll focus on major gift donations [...]
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