Note: This guest post is from Brian Saber of Asking Matters. It’s adapted from his new book, Boards and Asking Styles: A Roadmap to Success. Thanks, Brian! For most nonprofits, board training is a challenge. And no wonder! The team meets infrequently — and can’t meet in person during the pandemic. Resources may be scarce. Furthermore, … [Read more...]
Six ways to save money for your nonprofit
Note: This guest post is from Jodi Segal of Big Change Consulting. Thanks, Jodi! Yes, raising money is hard work. As all fundraisers know, retaining your current donors is easier and more profitable than recruiting new donors. At the same time, saving money is better than spending it unnecessarily. When you stretch your dollars … [Read more...]
Fundraising in uncertain times: Success stories
How are you navigating this moment? Are you fearful for your organization? Do you sense opportunities? Perhaps both... In today’s post, I’m offering you a pep talk based on data, long experience, and a couple of good stories. These days may feel bleak, but if you address your fear and engage your donors, you can raise a lot of money – … [Read more...]
Board members: What you can do right now
How are you doing? How is your organization doing? As we navigate the challenges of COVID-19, many nonprofits are taking tactical steps to serve and survive: implementing anti-infection measures, working from home, moving programming online, taking a hard look at their budgets, and so forth. In this new environment – which changes … [Read more...]
How to build a gift chart: A fundraising exercise
What’s my favorite fundraising tool? That’s easy: show me a gift chart. If you’re like me, you need to understand how many donations, at what amounts, are needed to reach your goal. If the information is presented in a visual, easy-to-understand way, that’s even better. A gift chart can be used to: Test the feasibility of … [Read more...]
A fundraising recipe: Optimism, creativity, persistence
I once chaired a capital campaign that lasted seven years. That’s seven years of planning, designing, strategizing, and adapting. We completely rebuilt our facility in two phases, which required many, many conversations with architects, designers, and contractors. Seven years of fundraising equals a LOT of asks. In fact, some … [Read more...]
Not all money is created equal
What’s the best mix of income for your nonprofit? How can you build sustainable revenue streams that make you resilient and self-sufficient? You’ve got lots of options – that’s the good news – but not every option is relevant to every organization. Consider the following facts and principles. Where money comes from Broadly … [Read more...]
Dream big, raise more money
Once upon I time, when I worked as a development director, I would gather the program staff annually to ask the “what if” questions: What if we had all the money we needed? What if we could do the work we wanted to do without worrying about the budget – what would we do? What if we had the capacity to try new things and do our … [Read more...]
Hospice care for nonprofits, part 2: The board’s role
Because not every group is designed to last forever, I recently shared a post about end-of-life care for nonprofit organizations. Regardless of your role – staff, volunteer, consultant, or supporter – it’s helpful to understand organizational life cycles. Board members have a unique responsibility for life-and-death decisions. To my … [Read more...]
Hospice care for nonprofits: Diagnosis and treatment
How healthy is your organization? What’s your trajectory? Are you growing, shrinking, or treading water? What’s the energy level among staff and board? Is your mission still relevant and inspiring? More than a decade ago, I participated in volunteer training at our local hospice agency. As the Great Recession rolled through the … [Read more...]