Articles – List

Why Your Nonprofit’s Events are a Waste of Time

Fun events may bring in hundreds of attendees, but a fundraising event is not an end in and of itself.  Often the charity never sees these folks again (or at least not until the next event) because these folks are golfers or ‘thoners, not donors. These events are a waste of your precious resources.

Don’t tell me that you “raised awareness.”

Unless you raised awareness towards a particular end (usually generating greater philanthropic support) – and you have a plan to intentionally build on this awareness — then everything your attendees may have learned about you will go in one ear and out the other. Awareness that isn’t reinforced lasts about two seconds.

Don’t tell me that you “raised good money.”

Did you really? Well, think again.

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Fundraising Silent Auctions: It’s the Items, Stupid

In my last post I talked about the Good, the Bad, the Ugly and the Easy of silent auctions.

Today I want to talk about the big kahuna: The Items

If you’ve got the right items, the auction is a winner for all concerned: the bidders, the donors, the item solicitors and your organization. If you’ve got the wrong items, not so much.

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