Fundraising

Imagine having the ability to get in touch with your supporters in the following ways: Automatically send an email to constituents on their birthday. Trigger a series of timed welcome emails to a donor after the first time they give. Test two different subject lines with a small group, then automatically have the winning subject line be used in the email to the full group of recipients. Create an email once, but have it send slightly different content to different segments of users. That’s marketing automation. But it doesn’t stop there. Marketing automation is about managing all of your constituent data [...]

Do you remember the classic game of operation? It tested many a child and parent's hand-eye coordination and nerve. Players take turns using a pair of tweezers to attempt to remove items from the board without touching the metal sides. Just the smallest touch and a buzz signals the end of your tun. A big fundraising ask isn't that different. One slip up and you could blow it. But if you understand what your audience is looking for and how to best go about asking for donations you'll be that much better off. NonprofitHub created this great infographic to help you [...]

This post was originally published on Iris7 Marketing and is being shared, here, with their permission. THE CONNECTOR: JENNIFER RICHEY DISCUSSES HER UPCOMING CAUSE MARKETING SUMMIT February 5, 2016 Jenn Richey, Cause Marketing Summit Corporate sponsorships can help non-profits diversify their revenue streams while elevating brand profiles. But where do you start? This May 24 hundreds of non-profit professionals and businesspeople will convene at the second annual Cause Marketing Summit to learn about these win-win partnerships. Recently, Iris7 sat down with Jennifer Richey, founder of the summit as well as the Associate Director of Corporate Partnerships at Young Survival Coalition, to find [...]

You know who they are. Nonprofits with a handful of staff. Those with budgets in the thousands, not bajillions. Local, community organizations. You might even be a part of one. As co-founder of a local nonprofit chamber orchestra myself, I know I am.   These are the nonprofits that vivify our communities and keep our world turning.   Running a nonprofit of any size is challenging. For smaller organizations, developing a strategic plan, managing the day-to-day, and doing it all by the books can feel like a David versus Goliath situation.   Today, I want to focus on the last point, [...]

  This post was originally published on John Haydon's  blog and is being shared here, with his permission.  7 Killer Email Fundraising Tips from Human Rights Campaign How often do you experience your email messages from your donor’s perspective? How often do you let your donors pick the best email fundraising message?1Well, that’s exactly what Human Rights Campaign does. And it works!During their 16NTC presentation, HRC shared how they crafted wildly successful email campaigns. They do it be focusing on their DUX (Donor’s User Experience)..DUX is ultimately about a/b testing, based on a few smart questions regarding your email fundraising messages. Best if asked from a donor’s perspective: Who’s the email [...]

Mention fundraising and the most likely initial response will be something like, “Oh, I don’t like to ask for money.”  The act of  "The Ask",  asking another for a charitable investment, is often seen as the sum total of “fundraising.”   Those of us who have done it successfully, those who have been there, know this isn’t true.  We know it’s not magic.  It’s a matter of attitude.  We know it to be one of the most rewarding things you can ever do.   It’s not hard.  With the right understanding, you can experience it too. When the time is right for [...]

Any nonprofit organization is familiar with the process of accepting donations. However, you may not be familiar with the options for accepting donations via credit card. It is important to learn about your credit card options and choose one that is a good fit for your particular organization. In this day and age, many people prefer to use their credit cards for the majority of their financial transactions. Accepting credit cards enables you to get the donations that you need to keep your organization going. The following list includes 5 things nonprofits should know about credit. The importance of accepting credit [...]

Wouldn’t it be pretty phenomenal if your nonprofit could not only increase its funding, but at the same time attract new volunteers and business partners, get more in-kind donations, earned income opportunities, better media coverage, and free legal or creative services? Amazingly, these are only some of the 31 benefits we have found that your nonprofit can receive when you partner with a for-profit in a cross-sector partnership. Better yet, these beneficial collaborations are great for nonprofits of all sizes, and many times work best for small to midsize nonprofit organizations. For-profits get even more benefits in cross-sector partnerships – 38 that [...]

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 to influence this subset of participants to sign up or not. However, where you will see a dramatic upswing in registration is with the casual runners, recreational walkers, and residents of [...]

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 over the other or opt to use both. Before delving into our advice for thank-you letters, let’s briefly explore why email and direct mail are the go-to choices. Emails Email is [...]