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How to Build Your Own Donor-Centric Fundraising Strategy

Bloomerang’s Mission Retainable Report found that when asked why they give more than once to the same organization, 63% of surveyed donors replied that the mission or nonprofit is important to them. Overwhelmingly, donors make contributions because they are passionate about your cause for their own personal reasons. By building your fundraising approach around donors, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Fundraising, Planning Tagged With: donor care, Fundraising Leave a Comment

How to raise money for an arts organization

How to raise money for an arts organization Are arts organizations different? I spent most of my nonprofit career at arts organizations. My love of theater brought me into the nonprofit world. So I know a little about raising money for an arts organization. So let me tell you a little story. One day, I […]

Filed Under: Arts Fundraising, Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: arts organizations, donor relationships, fundraising basics 21 Comments

You can do better

You can do better than the appeal we recently received at home. Really! And you probably do already. This was a cold appeal. And they’re definitely harder to craft. You don’t know the audience as well, for one thing. This appeal was also from a large, well-known organization. Sigh. And it’s mostly a brag-fest. They […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: appeal writing, donor communications, Fundraising Leave a Comment

This is why you can’t find a great development director

Great development directors are precious. It seems there is a constant demand for development directors. Turnover is a tremendous problem. People wonder why they can’t find a great one. In their study, Underdeveloped, CompassPoint, and the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund found “high levels of turnover and lengthy vacancies in development director positions throughout the sector.” […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: Development director, Fundraising 43 Comments

12 human quirks you can use to fundraise better

We humans are quirky. You know fundraising is never as simple as asking for donations. Behind your ask is a world of study. We think about our language. We consider exactly what we’re asking for and why. And we keep the language clear and simple. We’re straightforward about the need and use stories to illustrate […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Fundraising Tagged With: donor communications, Fundraising, neuropsychology Leave a Comment

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