Here comes this month’s *SMIT (Single Most Important Thing I have to tell you). Don’t make the mistake of not trying to raise funds on because you keep hearing that the only money being raised there is for disaster relief. First, it’s not true. Second, the exception proves the rule. You may be the exception.…
DetailsI just received this e from meetup.com: “Ten years ago this month, Meetup was born. People thought we were crazy, but 76 million RSVPs later, it turns out we’re all a little crazy.” I’d say we’re not crazy. We just long for community. We want to belong to a tribe . It’s a universal human…
Details
In Part 1 we talked about the ‘why’ and ‘how’ of going undercover to stand in our customers’ shoes. In Part 2 we lo at the ‘what’ — the ways we can WOW our prospects by getting creative and discovering ways to set us apart from the competition in our constituents’ minds. As long as…
Details
Why is “Undercover Boss” so popular? Could it be because most of us feel like no one is listening to us? No one understands our pains and sorrows? It’s cathartic to see a boss, for a change, put himself in the shoes of his workers and consumers. It’s usually a kick-in-the pants, eye-opening experience. If…
Details
For years nonprofits have worked from the “inside out” in terms of prioritizing constituencies to target. It was accepted wisdom that effective fundraising was an “inside out” proposition and that we should work our networks beginning with those with the greatest reasons to give (e.g., board members, clients, family and friends). As resources allowed, we’d then…
Details
To raise funds you must first raise friends.The initial step is making folks aware of who you are and what you do. In our daily lives (and in the daily lives of our volunteers) many opportunities arise where we can begin the friend raising process. We have to be prepared to take advantage of these…
DetailsIt can’t all be about ‘push’. We’ve also got to ‘pull.’ Recently I’ve been writing a lot about social media. It’s an important tool for engaging with our supporters. But let’s not forget that what makes technology sing is not the technology; it’s the people behind the technology. Successful technology is about bonds, not bells…
Details