Fundraising

The secret to raising funds for a good cause is the same as winning in sports: Stick to the fundamentals, and give crystal clear instructions about what you want your donors to do next.  Think of the last great sports movie you watched. (In my house, it was Hoosiers, about a small but scrappy high school basketball…

How forging an honest and vulnerable relationship with readers will help your organization smash through the glass ceiling of fundraising.  Let’s talk about honesty and vulnerability, and how those can help you increase your donations. I’ve never felt more vulnerable than this: The bright lights are harsh. I peek around at the room full of…

Hey, hey, Hey, HEY! What is going on here?” If you grew up watching Saved by the Bell in the early ’90s, you might have just read that with Mr. Belding’s voice. As the principal of Bayside High, Belding’s job was to know what shenanigans Zack, Slater, and Screech were getting into…and fast. So do…

Three essential steps lie between your organization and your donors’ generous gifts. Find out what they are and how you can ensure your donors support your cause time and time again. It might be tempting to paint a rosy picture of what your organization can do. You could exaggerate a bit. Tell donors what you wish were…

Are your donors smarter than a 5th grader? Obviously, yes. But I also want to know, what do your donors do in their free time? And, do you think they want to spend it reading long-winded or complicated appeals? Would you? To make it easy for donors to know how their gift will make a positive…

Don’t leave money on the table! It might be time to admit defeat and … (pardon the swear word) … ask for some h-e-l-p. What do you do when you’re drowning? Do you continue to struggle in the water and waves, or do you yell for help? (Spoiler alert, YOU GET HELP!) The past year…

For many nonprofits, there are two paths to asking a key group of supporters for a charitable donation: One involves mind-reading, and the other is scary. Learn how to increase your donor participation rates of a key constituent group with just an additional sentence or two. Picture this: You have a fundraising campaign coming up.…