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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Many nonprofits are stuck.
They’re tethered to their early decisions. Often made by others who came before them.
But times change. Organizations evolve.
Or they don’t.
The organizations that don’t adapt to changing times are often those that fail to make new decisions. They’re the ones who say “that’s not how we do things here.” Or they poo-poo decisions made by new folks who come on the scene, saying “they don’t understand our culture.”
These are the organizations that tend to shrink over time. They lose their energy. Their once-vital raison d’etre becomes less urgent. And their appeal to donors diminishes.
I recently listened to Jerry Panas, one of the most revered fundraisers in our country, talk about what he called the “deficit of mission.” He made it very clear that boards have two critical roles:
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The recent Equifax hack has millions of people worrying about the security of their personal data. While this was a particularly egregious and dramatic attack, it’s certainly not the only one. And nonprofits are not immune. Which is why I asked an expert for advice as to what nonprofits can do to protect themselves and their donors. Ged Mackey is Chief Technology and Security Officer of MobileCause. He told me about a problem I’d never heard of called “Card Testing.” Here’s what he had to say.
I don’t usually do this, but today I’m incorporating the full text of a recent blog by Seth Godin. It’s not about philanthropy or fundraising. Or, is it? He says it’s about ‘goodwill,’ or the lack thereof. What it costs you to lose it. I say – you really should read what he says and…
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A good fundraising strategic plan, like a menu, should be broken into component parts so it’s easy to wrap your brain around.
With a menu, it might be appetizers, meat entrees, seafood entrees, vegetarian entrees, sides and desserts.
With a fundraising plan, it tends to break down into strategies. It might be annual giving, major gifts, legacy gifts, grants, events and so forth.
Before you can get to determining your priority strategies, however, you need to do a mini fundraising audit.
When I begin working with a new nonprofit client, I always ask the same three questions.
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Do you want more major donors?
You can have them!
Today we’re going to look at a great tool for building those important relationships with top prospects over time.
And we all know that is what will result in the big gift.
You know how important it is to put a plan in place to build relationships, right?
It’s super-de-duper important if you want to secure major gifts.
I’m talking about “Moves Management.”
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It simply makes sense to follow the money. Where is it? Let’s begin with that elephant-shaped piñata in the middle of the room. It’s filled with 80% of all philanthropy. You’ve got to figure out how to get the goodies out of it or you’ll just be scrambling for spare change. The most recent data…
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Could you stand to improve the way your nonprofit staff work together as a team? In How to Collaborate with and Influence People Using the SCARF Mo, Martin Luenendonk, CEO of Cleverism, offers an in-depth explanation of how to better manage groups and improve co-operation by understanding what drives social behavior. You can apply the…
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Nonprofit marketing and fundraising have undergone a larger change in the past eight years than the previous 50. It began around the time of the Great Recession of 2008. This caused retrenching and a bit of dislocation, causing many businesses – nonprofit and otherwise – to get a bit stuck (See Warning: Have You Caught…
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Lemonade Standitis is a bit like Zika virus.
Silent, but deadly.
It infects you, but you may not realize it.
The symptoms can be easily misdiagnosed, only showing up later down the line in a different form.
By then, it’s too late.
If you’ve got it, you’re no doubt leaving money on the table, working harder than you need to, and putting the long-term sustainability of your nonprofit business at risk.
Want to avoid this dreaded sustainability killer?
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