Expert Advice


How to Fundraise for Haiti Relief Efforts

Posted on 19 January 2010

The immediate outpouring of support for Haitian relief efforts has been astounding.  Donations are reaching record amounts and people continue to want to donate or fundraise to help the people of Haiti. Britt Bravo has a great article with links: Helping Haiti: Places to Donate, Creative Fundraising Ideas, and Being a Smart Donor.  I’d like […]

Asking for donations? Learn to love objections

Posted on 23 November 2009

If you’re going to ask people for money, you’ve got to learn to love objections. Or at least be comfortable with them! Working on a session for the APRA conference in Boston, I’m relearning how fun objections can be. Seriously, if there were no objections, we wouldn’t be needed. It would be so clearly self-evident […]

Top 10 Ways to Screw up Your Year-End Fundraising Campaign

Posted on 04 November 2009

Halloween was this past weekend and we turned deep into the dark side.  Goulies and ghosties walked the streets in my neighborhood. So let’s turn to the dark side of your year-end fundraising campaign – and shine a light on mistakes many organizations make. Here’s my Top 10 list of ways to sabotage your year-end […]

Lack of Oversight can Damage Your Nonprofit’s Long-Term Funding & Survival

Posted on 02 November 2009

Recently Don Griesmann posted a story on his blog that I believe is worth a read.  The organization profiled in the story, Kid Care, began as a labor of love, but ended abruptly after 18 years of service. Its founders were not professionally trained in nonprofit management prior to starting their work.  They simply saw […]

The Planning Meeting – Love it or Hate It?

Posted on 30 October 2009

I sent out a special email on Monday to those who are signed up for the Step by Step Fundraising newsletter.  It included some of the tips that I also posted here:  Annual Fund Drive, End-of-year Fundraising Success Strategies. I got an email back from Tony with some great comments that maybe you can relate […]

Annual Fund Drive, End-of-year Fundraising Success Strategies

Posted on 26 October 2009

I’m kicking off this week with a Resource Roundup with simple success strategies for your year-end fundraising campaign. Many nonprofits see a great increase in donations toward the end of the year.  Don’t miss out on year end donations from your supporters just because you didn’t ASK! Here’s the three step plan to focus your […]

Fundraising Training Events, Teleseminars for Fall 2009

Posted on 16 October 2009

Continually learning is important for most jobs and fundraising is no exception.  Personally I love going to conferences, seminars and even taking online classes.  (In fact this weekend I’m missing a really great internet conference.) Sometimes seminars just give you general information that might be helpful “someday,” while other times you are looking for something […]

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