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Did you miss the day fundraising took a vow of poverty?

Fundraisers – and fundraising – need to be funded. The pandemic has caused an interesting shake-up: many employers are struggling to find or keep employees. Meanwhile, the nonprofit sector has an unfortunate history of paying poorly – that matches up to a history of short stays for employees. (It always seems like the person who […]

Filed Under: Blog, Fundraising, Nonprofits Tagged With: Fundraising, fundraising staff, nonprofit management 1 Comment

Your work matters. So do you.

His face was bright red. He looked down at me, practically spitting his anger. Next to him stood the organization’s development director, silent but glowering. My sin? I ran the box office of a large regional theater, and it was opening night. My (somewhat impossible) task was to both ensure every seat in the house […]

Filed Under: Caring for yourself, Nonprofits Tagged With: Fundraising, nonprofit staff, respect 3 Comments

Why you’re not raising more money

Are you struggling to raise enough money? Of course, the reasons are as varied as organizations. But there are still a few things to think about that are often causing your problem. You’re not clear about your mission Can you communicate your WHY easily and in simple language? And can you explain it in a […]

Filed Under: Annual Giving, Blog, Fundraising Tagged With: donor care, donor communications, Fundraising Leave a Comment

What do you have to offer?

I’ve been gobbling up a series Steven Screen has been writing about your fundraising offer. Go read everything he’s been writing! This is such a critical part of any appeal you will send. Yet, it’s often overlooked. And that’s a shame because when you can work out the offer the rest of the piece is […]

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

Can fundraisers be both human and smart?

I received a lovely email from the Fundraising Everywhere folks. In it was a piece by Wayne Murray. He urged all of us in the nonprofit sector to be more human. That gets a rousing YES! From me. But then we veered from the big picture – keeping fundraising human – to tactics like font […]

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

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Recent Posts

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