Learning About Your Lead Donors: Manipulation, Persuasion or Opportunity?
Make a short list of five things you want to know about your largest donors or prospective donors. Chances are your list will start with how much money and resources they have so you can determine if they have the capacity give a large gift. Of course, that does make...
The Fastest Way to Attract (or Repel) Donors: Urgency vs. Desperation
Unfortunately, many nonprofit leaders are fundraising from a place of desperation. The situation feels hopeless when money is so tight. When you can’t pay the rent or make payroll, the situation becomes desperate. This is a terrible position for both fundraisers and...
Avoid This Common Fundraising Trap to Ensure a Successful Campaign
Imagine that you (the ED or DD of your organization) are meeting with a donor who has the capacity to give a significant gift to your organization. Ready… You have scheduled the meeting specifically to talk about the possibility of a gift to your campaign. The donor...
How to Ask for a Capital, Annual, and Planned Gift in One Meeting
You know the expression — time is money. It’s cliché. But it’s also true… for you and your donors. When you have that special opportunity to sit down with your biggest and best potential donors, why waste precious time? Building the Long-Term Capacity of...
You Weren’t Born a Fundraiser – It Takes Practice!
The idea of practicing something gets an undeserved bad rap. I suspect it probably comes from childhood, when a parent pushed you to practice the piano or practice penmanship or practice shooting hoops. It seemed like drudgery. But from the perspective of adulthood,...
