Fundraising

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 [...]

  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 can’t predict some of the largest gifts that may come your way.   Here are just a few surprise donor profiles of those who have given mightily-- but not predictably! (Note: These just [...]

The past year was a productive one for fundraising. With technology always changing the way we accept donations and spread the word about our fundraising efforts, we didn't slow down all year. But right now, it’s time to take a breath. So finish your annual fund campaign thank-you letters, update your followers with your year-end fundraising statistics, and reflect on the past year. We can learn a lot from looking back — not just about where we’ve been, but how we got there and where we’re headed next.   Here are five remarkably successful fundraising strategies that paid off in the [...]

This post was originally published to DonorDrive's Blog and is being shared with their permission. Photo by NASA on Unsplash It’s said you can’t plan for a disaster. But really, you have to. It’s officially hurricane season and the nonprofits that have a plan in place are the ones most likely to get the donations when disaster strikes. In this article, we’ll focus on the basics that will make your emergency relief fundraising campaign thrive. Here’s our concise six-point plan: Set up a donation page immediately Explain the impact of the disaster and their donation Promote your campaign everywhere Update supporters [...]