BOO!
Today is Halloween, so I’ve got some really scary stuff for you!
Don’t get too spooked. There are also a few treats.
Eight delicious goodies, in fact.
In the form of “to-do’s.”
But first… the bad news.
No bones about it, you’re scaring folks away if you’re committing any of these boo-boos!
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Who doesn’t love a holiday?
The very word conjures up notions of celebration, warmth and love.
If you’re a donor-centered fundraising practitioner, you’d be a fool not to take advantage. Why not tap into pre-existing positive vibes to increase the chances your appeal will be warmly received?
After all, if you can channel something positive that’s more or less universally felt, this gives you a leg up. It puts your donors in a giving mood using familiar symbols and traditions.
Except when it doesn’t.
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I’ve long been an advocate of turning the tables on #GivingTuesday and using the “giving” part of the day to give to donors rather than add yet one more ask to an already crowded solicitation season.
If you want gifts, you must give them.
It’s one of those things that sounds good on paper, but in actual implementation it can be less than ideal. Why? Because it comes smack dab in the middle of most folks’ annual campaigns. So there’s often little time to do it right. And it can such your energy and focus on other year-end fundraising efforts.
I’ve got a better choice for you.
Flip the idea and rather than asking folks to make a symbolic gift to you, why don’t you make a gift to them?
DetailsWhen disaster devastates lives, it affects us all. Seeing people hurting – so much – is hard to take.
It also reminds us of our human fragility. Whoever is strong today may be weak tomorrow. Whoever may give today may need help tomorrow.
Sometimes we feel helpless. Other times we can be helpful. It’s all part of the circle of life.
Which is why today I’m sharing, with permission, an excerpt from 5 Ways to Donate to and Support Hurricane Irma Victims from the Double the Donation blog.
I do this for two reasons. One of them may surprise you.
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What makes us think a perfect stranger, who’s never given to our organization before, will choose to do so? It’s highly counter intuitive.
There are some basic strategies that ensure a successful nonprofit grants program.
They’re surprisingly straightforward.
If you follow this formula, you’ll succeed.
But you’ve got to be methodical, detail-oriented and focused.
Grantsmanship is not an “I’ll just wing it” proposition.
Applying for grants is hard work.
You must:
Let’s take these one at a time.
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By now you undoubtedly know you’re losing too many first-time donors.
In fact, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project report shows you’re losing an average of 77% of these folks!
Today I want to talk about a subset of new donors who don’t renew. They’re called “third party donors,” and they come to you through a variety of portals:
In a recent 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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Got a silent auction coming up?
After our recent article (Charity Auctions: Providing a Better Donor Experience), I got a number of questions from folks who’d had negative experiences.
These weren’t just poor donor experiences. They were also real drags on staff.
And I feel your pain.
Sadly, I’ve been there.
I’ve worked these painful events. And I’ve been a bidder at them.
Silent auctions are a bit like the story of the little girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead:
When they are good they are very, very good; when they are bad they are horrid.
Silent auctions can be a great way to both increase event revenue and entertain your guests.
Don’t rule out the importance of the latter.
The very best events I’ve witnessed are those where
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Charity auctions are an oft-held fundraising event, but even the most seasoned nonprofits often don’t host them well.
Since auctions are multifaceted events that are relatively complicated to organize, many organizations focus too much on getting the logistics in order and not enough on how they can provide an amazing experience for their donors.
Instead of considering how they can leverage their auction to build deeper supporter relationships, they bolt straight to the fundraising finish line: increasing event proceeds. It’s no wonder that event retention is so low!
In this article you’ll receive great advice from Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation, as to how you can make your auction a more positive experience for your donors, focusing specifically on how auction software can help.
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