Is being loved by your donors a good thing? Are you dancing around the true work of a development office? Feel free to get to know your donors well, get close to them, even dance if appropriate, but don’t forget that your main job is to ask for substantial support.

if you are a fundraiser, don’t waste precious time gabbing on about your accomplishments with your donors and prospects. Your job is to double down on listening. I learned this lesson the hard way. Here’s what happened….

Take advantage of Betsy Steward’s expertise and enjoy three short instructional videos: How to Write Thank You Notes to Major Donors, How to Email Major Donors, and How to Write Proposal Letters.

Spock and Kirk brilliantly sum up how to best think about your fundraising gala guests. Are nonprofit donor VIPs more important than the rest of us? Yes and no. Here’s why...

Soliciting a gift is a performance, isn’t it? Why not prepare the way a performer does? Pragmatic suggestions from this opera-singer-turned-major-gift-fundraiser will help you be your best self at a solicitation meeting.

We’ve all done something – given in just enough – to get someone to stop doing something – to stop “bugging us” about something and go away. Perhaps it’s the dog begging for human food – you might toss fido just a bit, to get him to go away. Or your child begs for another hour on the swings – you might give her 10 more minutes, just to stop the badgering. And you might give a “go-away gift.” A gift that is just enough to get the solicitor to go away. That is a transactional gift.

Angry donors can make for a hard day, but listening to them is worth it! Read about what you can do when faced with an angry call, and why you should welcome it as an opportunity.

No matter the size of your development office, the essentials remain the same. Ignore them at your peril! Use our list to consider whether or not your nonprofit has fundraising fundamentals in place, and how they might be improved.

You can’t keep a good project down. Despite the pandemic, Ossining Children’s Center has continued to hit exciting milestones in their Capital Campaign.

How many times have you heard, “Fundraising is really about relationships?” It’s true. This blog article describes how to turn this concept into a powerful reality for your nonprofit.

What are nonprofit leaders thinking? How have the last 6 months of the coronavirus pandemic impacted their work and perspectives? In this blog post, 3 nonprofit leaders - a Development Director, an Executive Director & a Director of Philanthropy - are brought together to look back at what they wished they’d known, and what they look forward to learning.

In this unprecedented moment in time, we are all thinking the same thing: “How will we recover and come back from the many changes we have faced these past few months?” In my conversations with clients and associates, the question I am most frequently asked is, “What do you recommend I do differently?”

Our social and physical movements have changed during Covid but basic human relationship needs have not. Are you still practicing the tried and true methods of fundraising?

Research shows that a handwritten thank-you note sent immediately after you receive a gift helps ensure a repeated—and often increased—gift. We live in a time when everything is automated: you buy something online and immediately you get an email saying how important your business is… yeah, yeah, yeah.

Galas can be a fun and exciting evening, but not usually a good time to do serious major gift fundraising. How can you turn your next event (or even virtual event) into a powerful action step with your top donors and prospects.