First Thing Tuesday

19 Nov Make Sure the Board is Involved in Strategic Planning!

Posted at 06:10h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Staff Development, Uncategorized 0 Comments

To be most organizationally helpful, the process of strategic planning should be used to unify board and staff engagement and create buy-in. The process is as important as the result. ...

11 Nov ALL Board Members Need to Fundraise

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

Organizations with Boards who take personal and collective responsibility for fundraising are also stronger and more sustainable than those who don’t....

04 Nov Do We “Sell” Board Positions Without Meaning To?

Posted at 05:34h in Board Development, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Why WOULD you want to ask someone to be on your board? Because they have: No fear in asking questions; Good listening skills; The ability to think strategically; The ability to think analytically; Good judgment; A sense of humor; and They are fully committed to...

28 Oct On Membership Systems – Part 3

Posted at 04:43h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Uncategorized 0 Comments

This week, I’d like to offer an overall strategy for your membership, or annual giving campaign. Done well and consistently applied, this system has proven to build loyalty over time and raise steadily increasing funds for operations....

21 Oct On Membership Systems – Part 2

Posted at 05:57h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Uncategorized 0 Comments

The 9th renewal letter still performs better than replacement efforts. I wouldn’t recommend that anyone use a nine-letter sequence as their core renewal strategy. Still, count me as a consultant who recommends that we not give up quite so easily on our individual donors. Don’t...

14 Oct On Membership Systems – Part 1

Posted at 05:38h in Board Development, Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Plans and Budgets, Uncategorized 0 Comments

Q: How many times should you pester a donor?You should never (knowingly) “pester” a donor, period. The real question is this: “Where is the line between nuisance and helpful reminder?” I would answer the question this way: propose a target range for your renewal rate,...

07 Oct Why Not Try Asking for Money?

Posted at 20:23h in Communication, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Membership, Uncategorized 0 Comments

What is the single most important thing you could change about your fall fundraising letter that would make the most difference in your returns? The single most important thing you can do to improve your returns this year is to ask for a specific amount...

30 Sep Rally Reflections

Posted at 18:06h in Communication, Featured, Uncategorized 0 Comments

At the Land Trust Alliance Rally, I particularly enjoyed this year's speaker Andy Goodman, who talked about the importance of good story-telling. Another blogger, Vu Le talks about how to make the most of downtime to cultivate new ideas and strengthen relationships....

23 Sep One Time to Give the Money Back

Posted at 11:19h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Donor Cultivation, Featured, Uncategorized 0 Comments

If a major donor requests that their gift be treated as anonymous – even from the board, give the money back....

16 Sep Independent Review of Development Systems Can be Helpful

Posted at 08:02h in Board Development, Communication, Development Audit, Featured 0 Comments

Similar to a financial audit, or an academic peer review, the Development Audit is an independent review of everything an organization is doing to raise money....