First Thing Tuesday

15 Mar Capital Campaigns – Part 2

Posted at 05:28h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Foundations, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Successful capital campaigns will have five key elements: Clear Vision; Great Leadership; Qualified Donors (sufficient to fill out the pyramid); Compelling Case for support; and Strong Planning....

09 Mar Capital Campaigns – Part 1

Posted at 04:35h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Capital campaigns are tools organizations use to raise the level of performance for all three giving decisions and build loyalty and commitment in their donor-base....

01 Mar Several Random Pet Peeves

Posted at 04:59h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

We’ve gotten so paranoid about spending too much on fundraising that we are not budgeting enough, and even then, we’re second-guessing every expenditure. We’re holding the fundraising staff accountable for the return, but we’re neglecting the investment....

23 Feb Collaborative Membership Programs

Posted at 05:20h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

I am launching a feasibility project to test whether several different organizations with similar missions (land trusts, for example) and separate service territories can work together to increase membership for all. In other words, can they collaboratively negotiate list rental, design, and even mailhouse services...

16 Feb Fundraising Metrics

Posted at 03:48h in Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 3 Comments

In any discussion of metrics, how they will be used is an important question to ask right up front. 1) You want people to give you money every year as part of their personal philanthropy. Therefore the metrics you choose should be the same or...

09 Feb Board Work vs. Staff Work

Posted at 04:54h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Sometimes board members fold, stuff, and stamp appeal letters, too. That doesn’t make appeal folding, stuffing, and stamping part of a board member’s job description. For convenience sake, I call all of these activities “staff” work. So what is “board” work? In fact, board work...

02 Feb All Numbers are GUILTY Until Proven Innocent

Posted at 05:11h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

We use numbers all the time in our written communications. We depend on them to communicate size and volume – and weight in hopes that they convey importance. Most of the time, however, they simply serve as filler. Every number has to have a context,...

26 Jan Write to People You Know

Posted at 04:34h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Write your newsletter articles, appeal letters, thank you letters, event invitations, and e-News (and even blog posts!), to that specific person who represents the audience you're trying to reach, or at least with that specific person in mind. If you do so authentically, you should...

20 Jan Three Different Jobs for Development Staff

Posted at 04:07h in Board Development, Development Audit, Featured, Staff Development, Uncategorized 3 Comments

There are really three different functions in fundraising and development work. Each one demands its own personality, and you rarely find all three attributes in the same person. In fact, you rarely find even two. Being clear about what you need and then hiring with...

12 Jan Strategic Planning and Haircuts

Posted at 05:02h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Foundations, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 1 Comment

Regardless of how your organization approaches Strategic Planning – DO IT. It takes time away from seemingly more-important-in-the-moment activities and can be expensive. But the added costs return to the organization in increased productivity, cost efficiencies, and even improved funding opportunities with donors. I learned...