Category Archives for Fund Raising


Giving Makes People Happy

Professional fundraisers need to remember that Giving Makes People Happy. This is an informative and well researched post from Bloomerang that reminds us of how to best approach our work. Helping our colleagues, co-workers and board volunteers to adopt this philosophy will help them to share in the joy of successful fundraising done well. Nonprofit […]

50 Things You Can Still Do Before Year-End

Here is a check list of 50 things you can still do before year-end to make your year-end fundraising appeals more successful

Covid-19 Week 8: Time to Reverse Engineer the Special Event

Demonstrating our own advice to be nimble and adapt to the circumstances, we are sending our Tuesday blog on Wednesday of week 8.  We thought it was best to steer clear of #GivingTuesdayNow. We hope you had great success with Giving Tuesday in May and tested some new strategies and tactics, because it is looking more likely […]

Don’t forget about the SECURE Act

Everyone is talking about the CARES Act and the deep and lasting impact of the corona virus on our lives and our economy. And rightfully so! But when we get back to raising money for our organizations we need to be equally aware of the impact of the SECURE Act. We all know that older […]

Covid-19 Week 4: Adopt, Adapt, Improve

It is the second day of week four of Covid-19 Fundraising, and this week we are inspired to adopt, adapt and improve.  Like so many other regularly scheduled events, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) turned its 2020 Annual Conference into a VIRTUAL event, demonstrating the path for all of us to adopt, adapt and […]

Keep Your Donors Giving Again and Again

Thanks to Penelope Burk for bravely jumping into this topic!  Her thoughtful article reminds us to keep our focus on our donors and to be resolute in executing a specific plan that is right for our organization.  Without this focus, it is difficult to resist the allure of national campaigns and promotions such as  Giving […]

Coaching Your Team to Success

Empowering others, establishing trust, learning from mistakes and setbacks, and having confidence in your team’s abilities may seem like obvious methods of achieving results, but too often, leaders fail to put in the time it takes to cultivate a successful environment in the teams they lead. In a recent article by Christina Curtis, an executive coach at […]

Fundamental Foundations of Fundraising

Here is a new take on composing a list of fundamental fundraising principles by UK’s fundraising sage Ken Burnett at SOFII (showcase of fundraising innovation and inspiration).  This list may be new to some, and strangely familiar to most here in the US.   It provides a wonderful reminder of what it takes to realize […]

Evaluating the Special Event Fundraiser

The Special Event Fundraiser has long been a pet peeve of ours.  It seems that every organization conducts their share of special events, unfortunately, too many seem to take on a life of their own and are now divorced from any rational strategy to truly advance the organization.  The March issue of the Chronicle of […]

How do Fundraisers stay current in our digital world?

The constantly evolving tools available to development professionals today are truly amazing.  The pace of change is staggering.  Are you old enough to remember what breakthrough technology used to look like, such as what the laser printer did for direct mail fundraising?  This article (found in the Association of Fundraising Professional’s eNewsletter) highlights several exciting […]