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Your reaction when your Executive Director says, “This looks TOO nice.” via GIPHY. Heard this one before? The theory is that donors will think you wasted their money if any of your communications look like they cost you cash money to produce them. This theory holds that all of that money should be going to programs and services. (This is the same theory that keeps your salary so low, your software so old and your desk chair so rickety, but that’s another post.).
Wow, September is already here. Can you believe how fast the summer went? If you’re doing a year-end appeal, it’s time to start getting ready for it. One of the most important components is your letter. You want to create a letter that captures your donors’ attention right away and convinces them to donate. Sounds simple, but it’s not. Here are some ways to ensure an A+ appeal letter.
Google research has revealed a 30% uptick in searches from August to September related to charitable giving. Your donors are currently in the process of deciding which organizations will be receiving their year-end donations. Thus, in time for the year-end fundraising season, below are 20 stats about fundraising and social media that every nonprofit needs to know.
Today, I'm honored to introduce you to Vanessa Chase. Vanessa is a storytelling training powerhouse. Fundraising Coach blog readers may remember her from last year's Stewardship Tutoring Hour. I regularly share Vanessa's tips and blogs in my coaching with clients and I'll get to share the stage with her again in Seattle at Nonprofit Storytelling Conference.
Your financial statements hold powerful insights—but are you truly paying attention? Many finance professionals focus on the income statement while overlooking key signals hidden in the balance sheet and cash flow statement. Understanding these numbers can unlock smarter decision-making, uncover risks, and drive long-term success. Join David Worrell, accomplished CFO, finance expert, and author, for an engaging, nontraditional take on reading financial statements.
I love it when a nonprofit vigorously stands up for its friends and strikes back at its opponents. Not much room for wimpish go-along-to-get-along behavior in The Agitator’s world. And so it was with delight that I read the news release from The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) noting that attacks by its nemesis the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF) against the fast-serve food chain Chipotle are backfiring.
In today’s digital world you may be wondering if printing and mailing an annual report to your supporters is appropriate. And if your budget is tight you may have already decided to save the print and postage costs by emailing a report instead, or simply posting it somewhere on your website. We’ve written previously on […].
Gretchen Barry. We often talk about how your thank yous may be the most important communication you send. Below you’ll find some of the most common errors you make when thanking donors who gave online. ~Kristina. Guest Post by Gretchen Barry of NonprofitEasy. Online fundraising may no longer be the wild west of the nonprofit community, but it still carries with it the aura of an unsettled frontier.
Gretchen Barry. We often talk about how your thank yous may be the most important communication you send. Below you’ll find some of the most common errors you make when thanking donors who gave online. ~Kristina. Guest Post by Gretchen Barry of NonprofitEasy. Online fundraising may no longer be the wild west of the nonprofit community, but it still carries with it the aura of an unsettled frontier.
Did you know that approximately 70% of first-time donors don’t make a second gift? This has to stop. We can do better a better job of keeping our donors. Here’s how. Do something special for your current first-time donors. Before your next big appeal, make a point to send your first-time donors a short thank you email, postcard, or note card in which you shower them with appreciation and give a specific example of how their support is helping you make difference.
Pope Francis is in the United States, and at Nonprofit Hub we are obsessed by the Pope’s ability to hold a position that has the power to be incredibly controversial, yet he continues to gain support from people from all walks of life. The Pope stands firm in what he believes, without ruffling too many feathers; he tends to make friends wherever he goes.
I like reading obscure things: prefaces to books, notes on receipts, credits after movies. So it's no surprise that I read the marketing message on the new bag of East African coffee my wife bought for us to try. What I read on this coffee bag blew me away. Seriously. You can see it for yourself off to the side here. The first line seemed boring corporate speak: Our team at Westrock Coffee strongly believes it is critical to take an active role to improve the quality of life in the African commu
Last week, in The U.K.’s New Fundraising Sheriff , I noted the failure of UK fundraisers and The Institute of Fundraising at self-regulation. That failure has now led to proposals for greater government intervention and the as-yet-unknown imposition of new rules that may prove difficult and even unwise. One thing is certain. This is no time for the sector and its trade association to acquiesce or silently lick its wounds while new rules are proposed and then imposed.
Traditional budgeting and forecasting methods can no longer keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving business environment. Static budgets, rigid annual forecasts, and outdated financial models limit an organization’s ability to adapt to market shifts and economic uncertainty. To stay ahead, finance leaders must leverage a future-forward approach—one that leverages real-time data, predictive analytics, and continuous planning to drive smarter financial decisions.
In today’s digital world you may be wondering if printing and mailing an annual report to your supporters is appropriate. And if your budget is tight you may have already decided to save the print and postage costs by emailing a report instead, or simply posting it somewhere on your website. We’ve written previously on […].
When I talk to community-based nonprofits that serve local or regional areas about content marketing or thought leadership, I often hear excuses like, “We aren’t the experts. The national groups are. Why would anyone listen to us about this issue, when we just serve this little corner of the world?” While national groups may have easier access to national data or trends, it doesn’t mean that people trust them more, or what to hear from them rather than you.
Read Part 1 first. Metric mania! It’s all around us. Unfortunately, when we try to measure too many marketing measures, all we get is frustrated. Even for nonprofit communicators in large, well-staffed organizations, there’s rarely enough bandwidth to capture, analyze, share and use many marketing insights. But there is a better way…I urge you to take these three steps to identify five or fewer insights that will make the MOST DIFFERENCE in boosting marketing impact: 1) GOALS—
Vanessa Chase is a guest contributor for Nonprofit Hub. She is the President of The Storytelling Non-Profit and co-founder of Stewardship School. Vanessa works with nonprofit organizations to help them develop stories for donor communications and fundraising appeals. You can follow her on Twitter @VanessaEChase and find more storytelling resources on The Storytelling Non-Profit Blog.
Speaker: Tim Sarrantonio, Director of Corporate Brand
Do you really know your donors? Not just what they give, but who they are? 👥 In this interactive session, we’ll break down how nonprofits can use behavioral indicators (affinity, recency, frequency, and monetary value) to build prospecting segments that go beyond wealth screening and actually align with donor identity. You’ll walk away with practical strategies to move beyond basic demographics and cultivate supporters based on how they already engage with you!
Used with permission of ken_mayer on Flickr I love that we live in a time of actual research of fundraising. We're finally moving beyond anecdotes to verified research by groups like the Centre for Sustainable Philanthropy. (In the interest of full disclosure: I am on the Advisory Panel for the think tank associated with the Centre.). The newest findings presented this month by the Centre for Sustainable Fundraising show a surprising way to increased planned gifts: tell people what others have n
Yep, we all know there’s a heap of money to be raised via email appeals. And our sector will send out billions of emails (I don’t think that’s an exaggeration) in the remaining months of this year to prove the point! So today, when I noticed a spiffy new infographic from Salsa Labs extolling email fundraising, I couldn’t resist browsing the factoids on offer … like 97% of emails are marked as junk or trash, the average person receives 76 emails a day, and yet email
As I was writing today’s post on how to support the next generation of leaders based on great advice from The Emerging Leaders Playbook , co-authored by Beth Kanter, I can’t but help but reflect on the leadership, passion, and out of the box thinker that Jake Brewer was in the nonprofit and civic democracy space. Jake passed away yesterday and will be forever missed.
Are you getting ready for Giving Tuesday ? A little lost on where to start? . The good news is, so many organizations want to help you succeed (and, let’s face it, use their product, too), that there’s no shortage of help for beginners. From case studies to campaign planners, webinars to checklists, there’s a lot of free help out there to get you started.
Payroll compliance is a cornerstone of business success, yet for small and midsize businesses, it’s becoming increasingly challenging to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of federal, state, and local regulations. Mistakes can lead to costly penalties and operational disruptions, making it essential to adopt advanced solutions that ensure accuracy and efficiency.
I’ve rarely seen a bigger message fail than this one. There’s clearly been some controversy on this nearby street about front lawn etiquette. Typically, there are lawn lovers, who water and fertilize their way through summer. Then there are the folks (my family among them) who focus on garden beds instead, and others who just cut the grass.
Roy Cheran is a guest contributor for Nonprofit Hub. Roy is the Vice President of Marketing at DonorPro , an innovative software company that helps nonprofits grow their fundraising revenue by an average of 37 percent each year. Roy has extensive experience consulting in higher education and leading fundraising efforts for military veteran causes. He is also a regular speaker at nonprofit technology conferences and a public voice for Veterans in the Pittsburgh area.
Are you in Orlando, Salt Lake City, Austin, Seattle, or Kansas City? I'll be coming to each and would love to get together. Most of my work is private, with individuals and nonprofits. But I also love giving leadership and fundraising trainings at conferences. Here are some events I'll be presenting at: WALT DISNEY WORLD: 9/11-16 NCDC Annual Conference (September 12-15).
A fundamental belief held by most of us is that the more we know about prospects or donors the better we’re able to fashion a strategy for building relationships and hopefully winning or upgrading the size of their commitment. The wealth screening industry is built on that belief. What many folks may not understand as clearly is that beyond measuring financial capacity or “wealth” many types of data provided by the wealth screeners and other data firms provide valuable insight into the likelihoo
Employee recognition has often been deemed a "feel-good" initiative, tied closely to rewards. While we understand its importance, we tend to associate recognition with intangible outcomes like engagement and sentiment, rather than direct impacts on retention and high performance. In today’s workplace, the true ROI of recognition lies in its ability to regenerate tangible, business-driven results.
It’s almost October, and it’s time to begin figuring out your end of year fundraising plan if you haven’t already. Prep now for #GivingTuesday! Giving Tuesday launches on December 1, and they’re already prepping with webinars and events to get you prepared to raise the most amount of money. While Black Friday has been dropping in sales year over year, #GivingTuesday has been raising more money each year.
“Sharing Your Progress” season is coming up fast. That’s when you talk about the highlights and victories of your year, and thank donors for helping you make it happen. We usually see these communications start in mid-November, peaking around Thanksgiving, and then leading into year-end appeals. To help you create some of these communications, including short annual reports, progress and thank-you videos, and dashboards, we are running a 6-week Nonprofit Marketing Accelerator
1. 3% of U.S. Households are responsible for 67% (2/3) of all household charity (This is according to the 2011 Bank of America Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy). 2. People earning $10 million or more each year gave the most non-cash donations totaling 1/3 of all non-cash donations (This is according to the 2011 IRS Statistics Income Bulletin). 3.
Derrick Feldmann is a guest contributor for Nonprofit Hub. He is a sought-after speaker, author and researcher. He serves as president of Achieve , a research and design agency for causes. In addition, he leads The Millennial Impact Project , which is an ongoing study of millennials and how they engage with causes. Derrick is the founder of MCON, the nation’s premier event on millennials and social good.
Managing HR tasks like payroll, compliance, and employee data can overwhelm small businesses. That’s where a Human Capital Management (HCM) solution comes in. Our eBook, Why Every Small Business Needs an HCM Solution: A Comprehensive Guide , shows how an HCM system automates tedious processes, ensuring your business stays compliant and efficient. You’ll learn how to simplify payroll, eliminate costly errors, and empower your employees with self-service tools.
We've all heard that science proves stories are more powerful than statistics. Kendall Haven's book Story Proof: The Science Behind the Startling Power of Story goes into great detail about hundreds and hundreds of studies. We've seen storytelling seminars for nonprofits and read the blog posts extolling the virtues of stories for fundraising. But how do we actually tell powerful stories?
Jeff Brooks at Future Fundraising Now wrote an interesting post last week about second-guessing donors. He was warning fundraisers not to make up stories about donors … what he referred to as “wild guesses about their behaviors that wander far away from what donors really do” And he gave the example of worrying about how donors might react to a carrier with a big red URGENT stamped on the outside — would donors be more motivated to give, or dismiss the claim as silly gimm
Drumroll, please… Facebook recently rolled out their Donate button for nonprofit pages. Previously the donate button was in beta and only a few selected nonprofits had access to it The Donate button links to your website’s donation page, and all gifts will be processed through your processing system. While your nonrprofit should not expect to raise millions of dollars with this new feature, it's definitely something nonprofits should be taking advantage of.
Laurel Dykema. I always love getting an email from Laurel Dykema of Mission India. It means we are going to get another great guest blog post on being a nonprofit writer. Today Laurel shares what NOT to do as a nonprofit writer. ~Kristina. Guest Post by Laurel Dykema of Mission India. Don’t write all day every day. Spending every hour of every working day producing written content might seem like the best use of your time.
Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System
Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.
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