15 Mar Capital Campaigns – Part 2
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....
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....
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....
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....
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...
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...
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...
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...
If you’re like some non-profit fundraising leaders, you are busy building 2016 goals from 2015 results. We raised this much from our special event, so let’s do that again. We got this much from our membership renewals, and we’ve been increasing about 5% every year,...
Your major donor cultivation work is arguably the most important work of your year. Make sure you create space on the calendar to do it well. 1) Assign donor responsibility to board members. Let them choose their own donors within reason, but make sure...
By November, you should have most of your fall fundraising pretty well dialed – hopefully, anyway. So now it’s time to start looking ahead to 2016. BEFORE your program people come to you asking if you can raise X or increase giving by Y%, here...