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Honestly? Why you can’t raise money

Honestly? Why you can’t raise money Is your smaller organization struggling? Wondering why you can’t get out of the just-squeaking-by-every-year rut? Meet two fundraising enemies: Thinking Small and its evil twin, Wishful Thinking. Thinking Small Thinking Small works its way in disguised as pragmatism. After all, if your organization is small, you have no choice, […]

Filed Under: Blog, Planning Tagged With: Fundraising, fundraising plans, nonprofit fundraising 6 Comments

Are you afraid of commitment?

Or should I say, is your organization afraid? I’ve been fundraising for a long time. And commitment has always been a struggle. Getting the organization to spend time, focus, or money to grow or maintain fundraising is hard. At one time or another, I’ve been told: There’s no money for fundraising. (To hire staff, to […]

Filed Under: Blog, Planning Tagged With: commitment, Fundraising, nonprofit management, Nonprofit organization 2 Comments

Are you a nag?

Don’t nag your donors No one likes a nag. Recently, a friend shared a letter with me that she’d sent to an organization she really cares about. I thought what she had to say was so important I asked her to share it. She generously agreed. We usually make assumptions about what donors think, but we […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Donor communications Tagged With: donor retention, donor-focused, Fundraising 9 Comments

Has your donor reached her limit?

Imagine how a donor feels when she’s reached her limit “No, we can’t do that. But it’s a good idea. You should definitely offer that suggestion.” “I can’t. I’ve run out of allowed suggestions.” “Oh, well, they limit them to make it easier on them.” Had enough yet? The above was a real conversation I […]

Filed Under: Blog, Donor communications, Fundraising Tagged With: Customer service, donor retention, Fundraising 8 Comments

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 2 Comments

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