This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Do you find yourself saying this? That’s the norm at most nonprofits, especially small ones. But be careful. What are you saying you don’t have time to do? Are you spending too much time on what’s urgent and not what’s important? It’s possible to stay on top of things, even if you feel you’re so busy you want to tear your hair out. One big key is planning. .
Feel like you’d be more productive if you could just manage your own attention better and limit distractions? I’ve got a challenge for you. pick one of the four tactics below and use it every day for a week. Do not (repeat) do not try them all! Pick just one and see if using it every day for a week helps you feel more focused at work. Option 1: Adopt the Pomodoro Technique and Use It Daily.
The number of low-cost or free apps and online tools available to nonprofits today is astounding. Provided you set aside the time to explore and experiment, your nonprofit can use the apps and tools listed below to significantly improve your web, email, social media, and visual content. Social Media Tools. 1. Blab :: blab.im. Connected to Twitter, Blab enables real-time video conversations from multiple locations.
While Roger and I like to believe we sit at the right hand of Zeus, bestowing unsurpassable fundraising wisdom on mere humans from on high, the truth is, there’s plenty of sound advice around if you but seek it out. Here’s an example that came to me by way of one of my many fundraising/nonprofit news feeds. If you live in Florida, perhaps you’ve heard of Alyce Lee Stansbury.
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.
Last week, I was invited to give a full day Ask Without Fear!® training in Kansas City. We had a blast. One of the exercises involved overcoming objections…even before they come up. The process was: The participants pictured someone on their “chicken list” - a person they were afraid to ask for a gift. They then wrote down the scariest objections - one objection per post-it note Next, they put all of their post-it notes on the wall.
The decision to rebrand is a big step for many organizations. It can help your brand get with the times, help your team communicate more efficiently and help you engage with an appropriate audience. Whatever your reasons are for a rebrand, you should have a clear idea of your goal and how you plan to go about achieving it. Take a look at our five steps for getting on the right track to a successful rebrand.
Newsletters can and should be a great way to stay in touch with your donors and keep them updated on how they are helping you make a difference. Unfortunately, most donor newsletters can be used as a cure for insomnia. They’re too long and filled with articles that brag about how wonderful the organization is. If you’re going to put the time and effort into creating a newsletter, make sure it’s something your donors will want to read.
Newsletters can and should be a great way to stay in touch with your donors and keep them updated on how they are helping you make a difference. Unfortunately, most donor newsletters can be used as a cure for insomnia. They’re too long and filled with articles that brag about how wonderful the organization is. If you’re going to put the time and effort into creating a newsletter, make sure it’s something your donors will want to read.
Photo by Jurg Vollmer. When nonprofit communicators think about media relations, they often focus on proactively pitching stories and reaching out to reporters and editors. But effective media relations isn’t just about pushing our story ideas on unsuspecting reporters. It’s also about being ready and responsive when a reporter or editor is already pursuing a story.
The following is an excerpt from Mobile for Good: A How-To Fundraising Guide for Nonprofits. The act of writing a comprehensive social media fundraising strategy is an essential first step in being successful on social media. The process of defining your goals and priorities will focus and unite communications and fundraising staff and help motivate executive staff to make a long-term investment.
In Part 1 I indicated why measuring specific donor experiences represents such a fundamental shift in mindset for most organizations. However, it’s a shift well worth making because measuring the donor experience at various interaction points — and of course acting on what you learn — is one of the ways a nonprofit can grow. Good donor experiences bring greater donor commitment, higher retention rates, higher lifetime value.
Last week, I was invited to give a full day Ask Without Fear!® training in Kansas City. We had a blast. One of the exercises involved overcoming objections…even before they come up. The process was: The participants pictured someone on their “chicken list” - a person they were afraid to ask for a gift. They then wrote down the scariest objections - one objection per post-it note Next, they put all of their post-it notes on the wall.
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.
According to an article in the Journal of Economic Psychology saying thank you can actually have a negative effect on your relationship with a supporter. The researcher notes that gifts, in particular, “reduce feelings of altruism ” causing your expression of gratitude to backfire in your face. Instead, he suggests you make sure to reframe the gift so your supporter feels that their acceptance of it ensures that they are remaining consistent with their values and altruistic motivatio
When was the last time you thanked your donors? If it’s been at least a month then you need to show some donor love. Valentine’s Day is a perfect opportunity to thank your donors and show how much you appreciate their support. Maybe you’d rather not acknowledge Valentine’s Day, but you should still do something fun and creative to show appreciation in February.
Carson Tate. Next Thursday, February 11th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Pacific) Carson Tate , author of Work Simply, will join us for a FREE webinar – Work Simply: Embracing the Power of Your Personal Productivity Style. During the webinar, Carson will discuss how to prioritize your work based on the way you think and process information.
Launched on February 4, the new BRIDGE Registry is a database of more than three million nonprofits, NGOs, and charities worldwide and each one of them has been assigned a new BRIDGE Number. This new numbering system is a huge leap forward for global philanthropy and may one day enable individuals to donate online to any nonprofit with a BRIDGE Number – not through the BRIDGE Registry itself, but rather through an online or mobile giving service that uses the BRIDGE numbering system.
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!
Old-fashioned, traditional organizations measure the efficiency of the organization’s own internal actions rather than the effectiveness of how the organization’s actions directed toward the donor actually affect donors’ attitudes. A surprising number of fundraisers fail to understand a basic axiom of the organization-donor relationship: It is the actions an organization takes toward its donors (donor experience) that determines the attitude positively or negatively of the donor.
I've been impressed with the number of nonprofits actively educating about matching gifts. I'm seeing it on thank you pages and hearing about it from coaching clients. This is relatively easy money that many are missing out on. So I invited Double the Donation president Adam Weinger to share his top tips with us. You're going to love this! You can learn more about Double the Donation at https://doublethedonation.com.
A pitch-perfect tagline can be the foundation for all messages you create about your organization or program. A tagline is a punchy phrase consistently linked with your organization. It enhances your name by clarifying your work and making it relevant to your audience. It’s a powerful way to signify the brand promise your organization makes […].
Fundraiser Maeve Strathy recently wrote this great post – Explaining a Capital Campaign to a 3-year-old Maeve is riding a streetcar in Toronto when they go past a hospital that’s undergoing massive renovations. A little boy nearby asks his mom what’s going on and she replies “ They’re fixing the hospital. They’re making it better… and bigger.
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.
John Killoran. We’ve had some questions about mobile fundraising so here’s John Killoran, CEO of @Pay , to get us started. He’ll be back soon with more details on how to raise money with mobile so stay tuned. ~Kristina. Guest Post by John Killoran. Deep down, all forms of communication (email, letters, phone calls, etc.) have similar goals to meet.
There’s a ton of information out there about how to ask for a donation. Here’s a 52-page report from AFP on the subject that talks about a lot of stuff. But, sadly, only a few sentences in the entire report actually focus on the moment of truth— when you ask for the money. So I thought I’d help with what I believe is the simplest way to prep for your next big ask.
Here is one of the most fantastic letters you’ll ever read. I’m so happy that Hilborn Charity eNews has shared it. It’s written by 10-year-old Betty Humphries (but soon to be 11 as she points out in her letter), who was inspired to apply for the job of chief executive of Greenpeace. The outgoing chief, Kumi Naidoo, replied, and you should read that as well.
Without further adieu, we’re pleased to announce our Cause Camp speaker lineup for 2016. Cause Camp is an annual conference for nonprofit professionals held in Lincoln, Neb. at Innovation Campus, and it brings the best of the nonprofit sector together in one place. If you’re attending in-person, you’ll have access to a workshop on April 7th where you can better your nonprofit organization through hands-on learning.
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 been said that the best romances start as friendships: You know each other, you know the way the other thinks, know which way he or she takes his coffee, and then—bam!—one day you fall in love. It’s like that with a new brand strategy, too. You have to get to know it. You have […].
I don't have to tell you that advocates and donors are the heart of your organization. You would not survive without them. What are you doing to recruit younger demographics such as those who are 18-22, the people who will be funding your organization in the future? Unfortunately, most nonprofits don't spend enough time or resources cultivating young people, despite the fact that Generation Z will comprise 40% of consumers by 2020.
How many of your donors came back last year? Do you know? If your nonprofit is anything like the 8,000+ organizations that participated in the 2015 Fundraising Effectiveness Project Survey , the answer is….not enough. Retention rates are pretty abysmal in the nonprofit sector, hovering at 43 percent for the past two years. So, how can nonprofits improve retention?
You know those conference name badges with the colorful ribbons that say "Speaker," "Sponsor" and the like? I attended a conference recently where some attendees were wearing strips that said "Bored Member." (They were tchotchkes from the exhibitor's hall, and they were the hottest item there.). Silly as it seems, it does make you think. Does your nonprofit have "bored members?
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.
You, and consumers, and by extension donors, can’t get enough mobile these days. The hours used are going up. The preference over desktops is solid and rising. Even simultaneous use of digital devices is becoming common. The addiction to smartphones and their apps is astonishing to an old fart like me. For example, according to eMarketer , by 2017 the smartphone will replace the tablet as the driver of mobile commerce in the US.
In many cases, nonprofit marketing involves reaching out, attaining new sponsors and fresh attention. With the help of the Internet and social media, businesses now have an endless number of ways to market to other audiences. While this is a vital part in the process of developing your nonprofit, it’s important to build a solid foundation upon your organization’s loyal donors.
Risk management in today’s nonprofit sector does not fall under just one individual’s job description – it’s enterprise-wide and touches many functions within an organization. Identifying and assessing risk presents an opportunity for meaningful conversation between Boards, management and employees to better understand how each individual can support strong risk management practices.
More and more nonprofit donations take place in today’s digital landscape, but how can nonprofits ensure their online storefront is not only open for business, but optimized for donations? And what are some basic fundraising tips to integrate if your nonprofit is just starting out on its online fundraising journey? As I explored this critical issue in my new book, Nonprofit Fundraising 101 , I interviewed Roderick Campbell, the CEO of nonprofit fundraising platform CommitChange.
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.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 27,000+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content