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A love song to the small donor

The small donor is not really small I’ve been trying to update and correct information in our database. It’s a chore. I’m going through everything line by line, gift by gift. I realize one thing as I work, though. While I’ve only been at my organization for a year, so many of the names I […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: loyalty, Nonprofit, small donors

Should strategy or tactics drive your choices?

Hard choices are part of our nonprofit life. Be honest: if you’ve spent any time working with a nonprofit with a budget short of 3 million, you’ve seen the tendency to put out today’s fires with the water you need for tomorrow. We all assume that we can magically make it work. In a way […]

Filed Under: Blog, Boards, Planning Tagged With: strategic planning, tactics

The inspiration you crave, and how to get it

Sometimes, inspiration happens – out of the blue. This past Sunday we celebrated Epiphany in my church. A friend gave the sermon. She spoke about epiphanies of the religious sort, but also about the epiphanies we experience in our lives – moments of sudden insight or understanding. As I listened, I thought about how much […]

Filed Under: Blog, Caring for yourself, Donor communications Tagged With: creativity, epiphany, Fundraising, inspiration

Memorial gifts: do the right thing

Memorial gifts are the most emotional gifts. We buried my aunt on Monday. She was an incredible woman – a musician good enough to have played professionally, a university professor, an artist with a needle or fabric, a wonderful cook, a loving mother and wife, and an adoring grandmother. Her loss leaves a big void. […]

Filed Under: Blog, Memorial gifts Tagged With: memorial gifts, stewardship, tribute gifts

Are donors tired – or just tired of you?

Your donors are tired… Were they for real? I was at a meeting with a number of organizations the other day, along with some fundraising consultants. During the course of the meeting, I was surprised to hear the respected counsel suggesting that the organizations cut back on their communications and solicitations with their donors. Why? […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: appeal writing, communication, donor fatigue, donor retention, Donors, Fundraising

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