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….

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.

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.

It’s like that old joke, “When does a joke become a ‘dad’ joke? When the punchline is _a parent_.” Here’s my variation: “When does a gift agreement become stewardship? When it’s written down.” Ok it’s not really funny. But it IS true - if it is written correctly. Let’s break that down.

No one knows for sure what will happen this year. I sincerely hope we don’t experience a repeat of 2008-2009. Not only was my fundraising job extremely stressful, but my husband got laid off in October 2008 as well. So, yeah, I’m not excited about doing THAT again. That said, I thought this might be a good time to share my experience of raising funds during that awful time known as “The Great Recession.”

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.