Sep222025
Handshake

6 Proven Strategies to Make a Major Donor Solicitation that Gets Top Results

Handshake

What makes an effective major donor solicitation?

I could just say (1) prepare, (2) prepare, (3) prepare, (4) prepare, (5) prepare, and (6) prepare.

Did I mention that you really need to prepare?

Preparation is the meta-message of Shark Tank’s “Mr. Wonderful,” Kevin O’Leary, to would-be entrepreneurs seeking to get spots – and funding – on the television show.

In “How to Present the Perfect Pitch: From the Shark Tank to the Boardroom” he offers 10 strategies to help you ace a fundraising presentation.

Whether you’re seeking venture capital or a philanthropic gift, many of the principles are the same.

I’ve selected six strategies I find perfectly aligned with what it takes to make a successful nonprofit ask. I’ve also suggested eight specific action tips. Take them to heart, and you’re sure to make your next in-person fundraising presentation a winner.

Oh, and there’s one more important thing, says O’Leary:

“The number-one rule is to make your pitch incredibly dynamic.”

Let’s do it!

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Leave a commentMajor & Legacy Gifts
Sep182025
Boy and Little Red Wagon

12 Proven Strategies to Raise More Money Before Year’s End

Boy and Little Red Wagon

Often it’s the little things that make the experience count

 

The biggest fundraising time of the year for most nonprofits inexorably approaches.

It can be stressful.

Don’t succumb to the stress. You’ve got this!

Perhaps you can’t do everything you’d like to do this year, but you can do some things.

Here are 12 strategies for you to consider. Each will pack a big punch.

Some you can do on your own. Some will require support from technical and/or marketing staff.

Here’s the thing:  Often it’s the little things that count. That pack a surprising wallop.

So don’t save all your energy for writing your appeal. Help your appeal along by putting some of the dozen suggestions that follow into effect.  Even just one or two will make a difference.

Let’s get started…

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Leave a commentAnnual Giving

Top Reasons Your Nonprofit Should Actively Promote Stock Gifts

Wall Street signDoes your nonprofit promote stock gifts?  You should!

A groundbreaking study by Dr. Russell James J.D., Ph.D., CFP®, professor in the Department of Personal Financial Planning at Texas Tech University, found nonprofits that consistently received gifts of appreciated stocks grew their contributions six times faster than those receiving only cash.

This is HUGE.

If you learn to ask for gifts from appreciated assets you’ll get more generous gifts. The study shows:

  • Received only cash gifts = 11% growth.
  • Received any kind of non-cash gift = 50% growth. Included gifts of personal and real property and deferred gifts.
  • Received securities non-cash gifts = 66% growth. Massive difference from just this one strategy!

You Don’t Have to Get Fancy

The most productive strategy is simply to accept gifts of stock.

But it’s up to you to offer up this giving framework to your supporters. 

Otherwise, they’re apt not to see this as an opportunity.

And speaking of ‘framing,’ this can establish a persuasive reference point for would-be donors. Researchers have found people don’t treat all their money as if they have one big pool of it.

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Leave a commentAnnual Giving

Proven Strategies to Climb the Year-End Fundraising Mountain

Mountain climberHave you started working on your annual appeal and year-end fundraising plan?

It’s beyond time!

I worked for 30 years in the trenches, so I know exactly what this time of year feels like.

It feels like you’re at the base of a mountain you’re about to scale.

  • Exciting, but also scary.
  • Exhilarating, yet also daunting.
  • There will be good days, and bad days.

And this particular year, you may feel you’re taking two steps forward and three steps back.

That’s to be expected during times of great uncertainty.

Expected or not, I know you’re still anxious and thinking “What if we don’t reach the top?”

Don’t worry, I’m here to help.

This year you may need the equivalent of a few extra granola bars for energy. And maybe an extra tool or two to help you get a grip.

Right now I want to give you a few specific, timely tips you might not be thinking about.

Here are some strategies I hope will give you a leg up, so to speak.

Ready to Put Your Best Foot Forwards?

Here are 11 tips I’ve learned over the years.

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Leave a commentAnnual Giving
Sep42025
wooden cart

Top Secrets to Igniting the Philanthropic Fire and Keeping the Warm Glow Burning?

Gratitude. Thankfulness. Appreciation. The feels both you and a donor feel whenever someone contemplates, or gives, a gift to your organization. Acknowledgement. Recognition. These are the underlying secrets known by successful fundraisers worth their salt. At base, they’re about the obligation philanthropy facilitators carry to show supporters how much their support means. Sounds simple. And…

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Leave a commentDonor Retention
Sep22025
Halloween skeleton

8 BOO BOO’s! Are You SCARING Nonprofit Donors Away?

Halloween skeleton

Is this how you’re making your donor feel?!?!

 

BOO!

Halloween is creeping up on us, so I’ve got some really scary stuff for you!

Don’t get too spooked. There are also a few treats.

In fact, you’ll get eight delicious goodies — in the form of “to-do’s.”

But first… the bad news.

No bones about it, you’re frightening folks away if you’re committing any of these 8 boo-boo’s!

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Leave a commentAnnual Giving
Sep12025
Mother and child hugging

Why People Give to YOU

Mother and child huggingIn an issue of her Loyalty Letter, Lisa Sargent recently noted:

“I just wrapped up supporter survey season in my little copywriting studio. And every year, the most powerful answers come from one simple question:  

“WHY DO YOU GIVE?” 

The responses stop me in my tracks every time. I smile. I cry. I sigh. My coffee turns tepid in its insulated mug. And I remember why we’re here.”

It’s a really good idea to stop and pause, every now and then, to think about why people give to you.

In fact, you might want to do your own survey. Or you can ask people to answer this on your appeal remit piece or donation landing page. Because once you understand your donors’ motivations, you can tap into them when crafting supporter communications.

I’ve grouped some of the answers Lisa shared (in quotations). They jumped out at me because they’re emblematic of the pillar fundamentals of a successful fundraising program. People don’t just give because you ask them for money. Sure, they must be asked. But, that alone is insufficient to inspire philanthropy. There’s another, deeper reason people give.

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Leave a commentAnnual Giving
Aug212025
Rainbow after a storm

Do You, or People You Know, Hate Fundraising? Read This!

Rainbow after a storm

Focus on the Rainbow, Not the Storm

 

If you’re coming at fundraising from the perspective of “no pain, no gain,” I’d like to suggest you reframe your approach.

Especially when it comes to asking individuals, one-to-one, for passionate gifts.

As long as you hate it, you’re never going to be effective.

In fact, if anyone in your organization feels this way, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.

Why?

Because… (I really hate to break this to you)…

Donors can tell.

When donors can sense you’d rather be doing anything else than asking them for a gift, guess what happens?  They follow your lead!  In other words, they feel like they’d rather be doing anything else than making a gift.

Uh, oh.  How can you change this equation?

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Leave a commentBoards & Leadership
Aug182025
Greek woman wearing laurel wreath

From ‘Resting on Laurels’ to Leading with Vision: A Nonprofit Guide to Moving On

Are you planning to do, more or less, the same thing you did last year for your year-end annual fundraising push?

I mean things like:

  • Recycling the same appeal letter
  • Mailing to the same list
  • Failing to segment your list
  • Failing to clean up addresses and de-dupe your list
  • Using the same donation landing page
  • Mailing only one appeal letter
  • Sending only one or two emails
  • Failing to link to your appeal on social media
  • Failing to ask your influencers to share with their peers
  • Failing to actively encourage recurring gifts
  • Failing to suggest specific ask amounts
  • Failing to ask major donor prospects in person
  • Failing to plan ahead to send a prompt, personal thank you
  • Failing to have a donor love & loyalty plan in place to retain your supporters
  • … the list goes on!

I was moved to write this article after attending an excellent local production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sunday in the Park with George.”  I found it surprisingly moving, especially the final musical number: “Move on.” And, being me, I was able to relate it to something I find all too common in nonprofit work.

It’s something insidious. Something that kills innovation and inexorably drains spirits.

It’s almost a disease.

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Leave a commentAnnual Giving, Strategy & Management