Making a case for your state-funded organization's fundraising
When meeting with new clients, I often hear this exact same question, "But, our organization receives state and federal funds...how can we realistically make the case for our fundraising?" And, my answer is, "Even more so you can! It…
Incorporating Peer-to-Peer Fundraising as a Calendar Year-End Donor Acquisition Strategy
I worked with various sized organizations all with different causes and the one thing that I see most in common is that they lack strong broad-based donor bases at the lower level. Most have focused their efforts on building relationships with…
How to use social media to acquire new donor prospects and turn them into loyal supporters
Development audit after development audit of small- to mid-sized organizations reveals that while donor retention remains a critical issue there is also another that is equally as important. Far too many groups are not focusing their fundraising…
How your nonprofit should spend its summer vacation
A guest post by Dennis Fischman of Communicate! Consulting For many nonprofit organizations, summer is a slow time. If you are in Development and Communications, you know that many of your supporters are at the beach or running “mommy camp”…
The top six tips to avoid the "Hope and Pray" method of calendar-year end campaign planning
Often, I work with clients who don't adequately plan for their calendar year-end efforts. This lack of planning does a disservice to the organization for a couple of important reasons. One such reason is that calendar year-end efforts and…
The top seven steps to creating special event sponsorships that sell
Before you can even solicit sponsors for your fundraising special events, you need to take several key steps first to best position your organization. What most groups fail to do is evaluate their sponsor value proposition first and foremost,…
What one thing can make or break the success of YOUR organization?
The Board. It can make or break your organization. If assembled and organized correctly, it can chart a successful future that prospers and preserves inspiration and creativity of its members and benefactors alike. If not, well...insert…
Using multi-channel digital fundraising "shoestring" strategies to acquire new donors.
In this day and age, as development professionals, we need to keep our eye both on donor retention and acquisition. It is one thing to retain your current donors. But if you are not constantly acquiring new ones, your donor file will naturally…
How to craft an effective and impactful plan for your next fundraising fiscal year
For many, as the calendars switch to spring, our organizations begin their budget planning season in preparation of a new fiscal year. As a result, development departments are often hard-pressed to come up budget sometimes right in the middle…
Hosting Your First Fundraising Cultivation Event
Donor cultivation events should be an important part of your fundraising program. Whether you are a small or large non-profit, or if you are raising money for annual operations for capital campaigns, you need to incorporate them as a vital…
How to keep your small shop fundraising focus on your major donor work
After having served most of my career as a Director of Development in a small organization, I understand the realities of trying to handle all of the major tasks and responsibilities that come up daily; plus the fires that seem to endlessly…
We're growing our interim fundraising division to help YOU reach your possibility.
Let me share a story with you... A few years back when I first started consulting, I provided organizations like yourself with strategic fund development audits and assessments and then crafted finely honed plans. What I thought were roadmaps…
