Let’s take it from the T O P. D O C A R E about what you’re trying to achieve. Get it opened, read and acted on. Remember your primary purposes: (1) Get it open; (2) Get it read; (3) Get the donation. Do not – I repeat, do not!—deviate from these primary purposes. I’m…
DetailsYour money can become my sandwich What I learned from a street beggar* (see “Note” below). Last week a street beggar — aka panhandler — asked me for money and I gave it to her. I don’t usually do this because I wonder how the money may be used and tend to give, instead, to…
DetailsYesterday I guest posted on Windmill Networking: WARNING: 8 Clues Your Nonprofit’s Social Media Implementation and Measurement Strategy is Bogus. I encourage you to read the full post. It’s about how so many nonprofits really don’t have a clue why they’re doing social media at all. And, if they are doing it, they may have…
DetailsWho am I? What am I doing here? Who am I and what am I doing here? Ever feel that way about social media? You’re not alone. For many of us in the nonprofit sector it’s still a frontier. It’s tempting for us non-pioneer types to just want to call the whole thing off. Waagh!…
DetailsHere comes this month’s *SMIT (Single Most Important Thing I have to tell you): The foundation of all fundraising and nonprofit marketing is relationships. Thanks to Katya Andreson for great inspiration in 6 tried and true truths about my work . I told her I was going to post these fundamentals above my computer –…
DetailsWhat if we said “Give Where Most Moved” instead? Too many folks still worship at the altar of unrestricted giving. I recently came across an article on NPR’s site, Disaster Donations Surge, But What About Tomorrow?, in which Eileen Heisman, the CEO of National Philanthropic Trust, admonishes potential donors to be loyal in…
DetailsYour donors are special people who deserve to be savored. For good things once a year is not enough. Why do so many of us only eat turkey once a year? Or pumpkin pie? I’ve no idea! It’s not rational. These are special foods we value and take great ight in. It’s also not rational…
DetailsOf all our friends the best is time because it passes, and stays, when we need it to do so. Sometimes we probably need both depending on the scene of the crime or creation du jour. Tempis fugit, for which we’re grateful; yet there are nights we wish never to end. The present is hard.…
DetailsAre you focused on the gift or the giver? Thanking donors is the one thing most nonprofits do not spend enough time thinking about. Too often I find that staff spend 95% of their time crafting the fundraising appeal and getting embroiled in project management – design; layout; ing, postage, etc. Finally, the letter (or…
DetailsBefore you hold your next fundraising event, ask yourself one simple question: WHY?
Take a minute, right now, to jot down all the things you’d like to happen by virtue of you having held your event.
I’ll wait.
Seriously, do it. Jot.
I’m waiting.
Okay, there are a few of you who don’t yet have pencils and paper in front of you. Yes, I can see you. Remember ‘Miss Nancy’ from Romper Room? [I know; I’m dating myself on this one].
Now, let me guess what you’re writing (and/or thinking).
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