New to fundraising? Read our guide How to Fundraise: A Guide for New Fundraisers
The nonprofit world is unique. We’re mostly people here because the robot that can do our job has yet to be invented. Mistakes and blunders can and do happen. This is the measure of what makes us human, along with our compassion, drive, integrity, loyalty, not to mention conviction and impressive fortitude. Think for a …
The nonprofit starvation cycle is a grim truth, the not-so-hidden, murky underbelly of the social benefit sector. The sad reality is the majority of nonprofit organizations are trapped in a vicious progression of inadequacy and chronic under-funding. This toxic cycle has been the omnipresent, dark cloud on the nonprofit horizon. With funders, donors and grantees …
With the year almost over, your nonprofit is probably looking for ways to optimize your fundraising. Luckily, your supporters are in a giving mood: Up to 50 percent of total annual income for nonprofits comes from the year-end ask alone! Let’s take a look at five ways to to amp up your year-end fundraising: …
What nonprofit wouldn’t like to save money? Benjamin Franklin wisely counseled, “A penny saved is a penny earned.” Like all great entrepreneurs, Franklin knew the value of a buck. For most nonprofits, a shoestring budget is part of the day-to-day reality. By cutting excessive costs, a penny-pinching strategy can free-up capital for mission initiatives and …
A successful pledge campaign requires a good amount of detail work but is worth your while to increase donations. A pledge campaign, simply put, is asking people to commit to giving to your organization or cause at some point in the future or on a regular basis. Compare a pledge to a “buy now pay …
We love statistics for a reason. They break down our complex ideas to simple numbers and make our work measurable. You don’t need a statistic to know how much statistics help your nonprofit – to backing up the need for your work with real community indicators, to measuring and tracking your impact and comparing yourself …
For any organization, having an excellent reputation is non-negotiable and protecting that reputation is vital. We’ve come a long way since public relations meant local media and the press. What are people saying about your organization? Stakeholders get the lowdown on a nonprofit out there on social media and consumer review sites. Protect …
Millennials are a generous generation, with about 80% giving to charity according to the Blackbaud Generational Giving Report. But how do you get millennials to donate to Your cause? What has worked to appeal to their parents and grandparents will not necessarily work for millennial however, and nonprofits need to rethink their fundraising strategies accordingly …
Social enterprise, or businesses that strive to make profits with the social good in mind, is growing from an increasing customer awareness of global inter-connectivity that directly affects purchasing decisions. A 2014 Nielson report shows that 55 percent of global customers across 60 countries are willing to pay more for products that have positive social …
There’s a misconception among some smaller nonprofits that “best practices” is a notion that only applies to the big guys. Wrong! Even in the beginning, a two staff, three volunteer (and the office cat) organization can benefit from adopting a higher standard of conduct. Loosely collected under titles such as “guiding practices,” “principles and practices,” …
Just because the for-profit world has customers and clients and the nonprofit world has donors and volunteers doesn’t mean that they both can’t stand to learn from one another. Nonprofits have major gift donors, and for-profits have big spenders. Nonprofits have recurring donors, and for-profits have loyal customers. And the parallels continue. Running an organization …
We all know donor management is the key to personalizing donor communications and a vital factor in donor retention. Segmenting and managing donors effectively makes for better relationships and encourages future engagement. But what is the best way to get this accomplished? Enter CRM – Customer/Constituent Relationship Management tools. What to use CRM …
From organizing a grassroots community improvement project to creating an eye-opening documentary to writing a nonfiction book about marginalized people, you can do a lot of good to make our world a better place! And you don’t necessarily need to use a crowdfunding platform. There are other resources for successful personal fundraising. If you are …
New fundraisers have a lot to learn: not only does the job of a fundraiser require finding donors and soliciting gifts, but also building relationships, tracking finances, writing proposals, planning events, strategizing, and organizing volunteers. Hardly any other job demands such a broad range of skills! For this ‘How to Fundraise’ guide, we’ve assembled the …
Every nonprofit project benefits from a winning proposal, whether your organization is seeking grant funding, individual donations, or just a clear, strategic picture of what you are doing and why. This part of fundraising and project planning is often the most difficult for nonprofits, though it doesn’t have to be. Any project or program can …
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