What's the worst donor experience you've ever had? I'm pretty hard to rattle. Sometimes I hear stories from donors about their experiences with the charities they support that shock me. There are the rare one or two that have actually made me mad. This one did both. My friend and I were … [Read more...]
Monthly Donors Are No Small Thing!
How do we acquire new monthly donors? First of all, let's not brush over the importance of creating a monthly donor acquisition plan for your organization. Monthly donors are the new gold, waiting to be mined from your current contact list. Why? Because everyone talks about wanting to engage new … [Read more...]
Get To Know Your Donors – Give Them A Call
The most important step in a donor stewardship or retention plan is the phone call after a gift is made. Here are two reasons why this is so important for your organization. I know you know this, but here is your gentle reminder. :) Why Not Call Your Donors? We’ve heard it all before. Maybe we’ve … [Read more...]
Don’t Make New Donor Introductions Meaningless
Include An Outreach Strategy for New Donors in Your Event Wrap-Up Plan. There’s no reason your organization can't form a meaningful relationship with a donor that was brought to your fundraiser by someone on your volunteer committee or, invited by a board member. Is there? It’s an important … [Read more...]
Never Fundraise From “Everybody”
Why is it hard to raise funds? Most often, you're trying to fundraise to everybody. It's a killer. One reason is that large numbers of people don't believe what you're saying. No matter how obvious and self-evident you think it is. Large numbers can stay comfortably numb and never really engage … [Read more...]
Are You Being Authentic?
Authenticity Is A No-Brainer in Fundraising Recently, while out and about with my Mom, we decided that an ice cream shake sounded like a good idea. Traveling through a small town in Kansas, there didn't appear to be many options. We came up on a Sonic Drive In and pulled in to place our order in … [Read more...]