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October Nonprofit Blog Carnival Call for Submissions: Tricks or Treats – How Do You Get and Sustain Major Gifts?

I’m majorly S C R E A M I N G with delight to be hosting this month’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival!

So majorly, in fact, that the subject this month is TRICKS or TREATS – How Do You Get and Sustain Major Gifts?

Tell us your tricks – the ones that work! Do you HAUNT prospects through a series of managed ‘moves’?  Do you fly in on a BROOMSTICK and just drop in spontaneously? How do you put them under your SPELL?

Tell us some treats – ways you wow your donors! Smile like a JACK-O-LANTERN every time you think of them; then figure out a way to let them know? Give them lots of virtual CANDY (seriously, do you use social media for any part of your major gifts strategy)?

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Clairity Click-it: How Philanthropy is Changing; Giving Tuesday; Content Marketing; Retention; Color Psychology; Thank You

Changes in Philanthropy Click-It: On Nonprofit Fundraising, Physics and Utopia. Heidi Hancock of Mosaic muses on the nature of nonprofit growth, and why it’s probably not realistic to think you can raise an endowment that will set your nonprofit up for life. Giving Tuesday Click-It: Expert Advice on Taking Advantage of #GivingTuesday comes from the…

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What My Mother Taught Me and How it Informs My Fundraising Practice

 

Why and How to Invoke the Power of Thank You

My mother was known for having impeccable manners. At her memorial service, it seemed as if every other person who shared a memory talked about her manners. They did so not in a nitpicking way, but in a loving way.  It seemed she always knew just the right thing to do to show her appreciation.

Maybe that’s why I love writing thank you notes.  Seriously, it’s my favorite thing to do in all of fundraising.  And it’s undoubtedly why, when I first heard Penelope Burk speak in 2001, it completely changed my approach to the practice of development.

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3 Rules for Thanking Nonprofit Donors that Should Never Be Broken

If you’re not retaining as many donors as you’d like, you’ve no one to blame but yourself. And I’m here to tell you why.

You’re Not Thanking Donors Properly.

I’m serious. How you handle donor acknowledgements is that important. Yet, sadly, most of you do an absolutely rotten job of showing your donors how much they mean to you.

Part of the problem is due to focusing on acquisition at the expense of retention. Most executive and development directors don’t even know their retention rates without looking them up.

DUDES! Your retention rates should be on the tips of your tongues! If you don’t know how you’re doing, how can you improve?

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Clairity Click-it: How Philanthropy is Changing; Social Media Measurement; Twitter for Nonprofits; Recurring Gifts; Lapsed Donors; Thank You

Here’s this week’s Clairity Click-it, leading off with a provocative piece about the state of the charitable sector and roaming through a mix of interesting and useful nonprofit marketing and fundraising tips — all designed to help you be the best you can be. Enjoy!

Changes in Philanthropy

Click-It: Philanthropy Reconsidered: The Paradigm Shift is a fascinating, thought-provoking article

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6 Traits of Relationship-Building Nonprofits + 4 Most Effective Ways to Retain Donors

Donor retention has continued to plummet every year for the past seven years.  It’s really, truly an awful problem. For some unknown reason, all that hard work you put into acquiring new donors is, seemingly, being wasted. Why?

I recently asked folks what ONE word they would use to sum up what is needed to transform donor loyalty. I received some interesting answers and thought I’d share them with you, along with my comments, here. First, let me remind you of my own Big Secret — the one principle I’ve found that makes the greatest difference to long-term, sustainable fundraising success:

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Clairity Click-it: Leadership, Text Donations, Mobile Optimization, Saying Thank You

Here are some important links for you as we head into prime fundraising season. Some will make you think. Others are hands-on and practical. Enjoy!

Leadership

Click-It: To Be a True Leader, Start by Listening. Check out this podcast where Allison Fine interviews Annie Murphy Paul, author of the upcoming Brilliant: The New Science of Smart, about the concept of “cognitive humility”—recognizing what you don’t know and having an eagerness to learn. Do you fear to let others know when you don’t know something? Learn how to embrace admitting this as a strength.

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The Big Secret – One Word – to Transform Donor Loyalty

In a recent post about building donor loyalty I promised to reveal my personal #1 SECRET – the one principle that makes the greatest difference to long-term, sustainable fundraising success.

I’m going to share that principle here; then I’m going to turn this principle into a word – actually three variations of the same word – that you can use to transform the way you’ve been doing business.

Are you ready?

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Clairity Click-it: Best Fundraising Asks; Loyalty Metrics; Cultural Change; Maximize Time on Social Media; LinkedIn

Here”s your ‘Back to School’ Clairity Click-it. It’s a good time to learn a few new tricks — and there are plenty of them here for you to noodle on and sink your teeth into.  Let’s take a lo! Best Fundraising Asks Click-It: Your Favorite Fundraising Asks or Offers in Your Appeals? Kivi LeRoux Miller…

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