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A Fundraising Revolution?
Today’s guest post is brought to you by one of my favorite people in fundraising, the always insightful and sometimes controversial Mazarine Treyz. Mazarine is the author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising book and blog, http://wildwomanfundraising.com. She’s the co-creator of Adventures...
5 Tips to Maintain Your Enthusiasm as a Fundraiser
Several weeks ago I was chatting with a board president of an educational organization over lunch. I’d been brought in for an hour long fundraising training scheduled during the organization’s retreat. “Well,” he remarked with more than a touch of resignation in his voice, “we really don’t...
Three Big Ideas to Take Your Relationships with Foundations to the Next Level
Foundation folks are constantly being pitched, talked at, “worked.” How easy might it be to stand out from the crowd by taking a completely different approach? Here are three big ideas to get you started. 1. Connect without an agenda. Some years ago, the head of a major foundation spoke at...
The Secret to Building a Great Fundraising Board
The oft-told frustrations of working with a board and development committee escaped me for a number of years. You see, I had the good fortune, in my very first fundraising job, to work with a completely hands-off board and executive director. Imagine! Grant proposals went out with my signature on them...
The “Un-magical” Guide to Turning Prospects into Donors
Do you ever wish you had a magic wand? In the development office of a small nonprofit, it sometimes seems magic is the only way you’ll ever get everything done. You know your success depends on building relationships and touching prospects multiple times in multiple ways–“dripping”...
What’s at the core of apple’s PR?
Let me get one thing out of the way right from the start – I own a Mac, I never leave home without my ipod, the new ipad is the next thing on my wishlist, and the only reason I do not have an iphone is my conscious decision to steer clear of smartphones (I’m already way too connected)….I...
Ten steps to Facebook success for your nonprofit
If you’re like most non-profit marketers, you’re trying to use Facebook to raise awareness and donations. You’ve set up an account, tried to grow your number of connections, and have posted some content for people to comment on. In the first month or two, your fan base grew steadily....
These 7 Copywriting Secrets Can Make You a Fundraising Hero
Regular readers know that I’ve made no secret of the fact that I believe, of all of the skills a good nonprofit marketing and development person needs, copy-writing tops the list. Why? Start collecting the nonprofit annual appeal letters that arrive in your mailbox. Read through a few nonprofit websites. ...
For Social Media Success – Be a First Rate Version of Yourself
Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else. ~Judy Garland A little background … For slightly over a year now I’ve been publishing a free weekly e-newsletter geared to providing the one-person nonprofit development shop with the techniques they...
NonProfit Email Marketing: Is Your Organization Ready for an Email Monthly Giving Campaign?
Why Email? According to Convio’s latest Nonprofit Benchmark Study, online giving grew in 2009 by 14 percent – despite the economy. Even better news? Small organizations grew the fastest. Convio reports that smaller organizations “grew their online revenue by 26 percent, and gifts by...
Can it be True? Good News for Grantseekers!
Last week the venerable Chronicle of Philanthropy shared the news, gleaned from a study carried out by Foundation Source, that small to mid-sized grant-making foundations actually exceeded their payout requirements in 2009. Foundations are required by law to spend 5% of their investment assets each year...
What You Can Expect from Your Board – and What You Can’t
Chances are, if you’ve been in nonprofit development for any length of time, you share the feelings of one of the members of Simple Development Systems who wrote that her greatest challenge was: “motivating the Board to do something instead of always relying on me to do everything.” Today’s...
Six Critical Things to Look For in a Foundation’s 990 For Successful Grant Funding!
When it comes to foundation grants, researching prospective foundations is crucial for locating the ideal match. And there is no finer tool for truly observing the inner workings of a grant-making foundation — and whether or not their mission provides a match with your organization — than with...
When is it Time to look for Outside Help with your Mailing Campaign?
Dramatic reductions in grants, corporate sponsorships and overall donations have forced many nonprofits to make substantial cuts, or in some cases close their doors completely. Despite the growth in social marketing, tried and true direct mail is still the primary fundraising source for most nonprofits. ...
How to Tell Your Nonprofit’s Story With Video
Have you ever thought about how you tell your organization’s story? I’m a big believer in constant story collection – from your clients, your donors, your founder, your staff (see my article 6 Tips for Collecting Great Nonprofit Stories for more information) – but just as importantly...
I Don’t Get No Respect. Development Staff Are the Rodney Dangerfields of the Nonprofit World
Is it true what “they” say? That nonprofit program people and development professionals just can’t get along? Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a foundation site visit on behalf of a client. I had written a grant proposal and, as a result, two trustees from the foundation had...
Fundraisers and Program Professionals: Can’t Everyone Just Get Along?
Today’s guest post comes to us by way of Heidi Massey. Heidi is a nonprofit consultant with a passion for strategic networking, leadership development and creating meaningful educational and service-based programs and collaborations. For more on Heidi, check out her blog. Every time I meet...
A Nifty Tool to Help You Build Relationships With Foundation Funders
What if one simple tool could ensure that you never let a prospective foundation grant slip through your fingers again? In the six years I worked in programming and communications for a grantmaking family foundation I learned a lot about nonprofit management just from observing the grant proposals that...
