Giving Tuesday is the single biggest fundraising day of the year. It also sets the stage for the nonprofit industry’s busiest and most important fundraising time, year-end giving season. On Giving Tuesday in 2021, an estimated $43.6 billion was donated online in Canada alone. With over 80 countries participating in Giving Tuesday, it’s time to encourage your community to open their hearts (and wallets) to your organization.  But with every nonprofit under the sun running a Giving Tuesday campaign, how do you stand out from the crowd? We’re here to help you put together a campaign that is ..read more

The pandemic changed the way we do just about everything. From shopping to banking, the tasks that we used to venture out into the world to do are now all available to us without leaving our homes, including fundraising. While a strong digital fundraising component, such as donations pages, is critical to fundraising success, it’s important not to let your direct mail marketing strategy fall to the side.  When we think about direct mail, we tend to think it’s only popular with older generations, but that way of thinking could be leaving money on the table. Yes, direct mail does see the h ..read more

At Fundraising KIT, we understand the importance of offering fair and competitive compensation for nonprofit employees. After extensive research, we are excited to present the sector with the latest findings on nonprofit salaries. We hope that by tracking salaries, organizations and fundraisers alike can use this tool to compare themselves with industry trends. Since we teamed up with Keela to start tracking nonprofit salaries in 2018, the average compensation has continued to increase for all roles —except for CEOs which has been on the decline. Understanding the nonprofit employee base and ..read more

Retaining monthly donors can be extremely valuable in reaching your fundraising targets. Monthly donors tend to have a higher donor lifetime value than one-time donors and typically lead to donor retention of over 80% after one year.  You can monitor your monthly donor retention rate by dividing the total number of existing monthly donors from the current year by the total number of monthly donors from the previous year. Then, you multiply that result by 100.  You want to keep increasing your monthly donor retention rate as your organization grows. Doing so will help your team bette ..read more

Before you jump into the major gift fundraising cycle, you need to set some major fundraising goals. This crucial step in your fundraising journey will help you and your team of major gift officers work cohesively and effectively towards raising as much money as possible. This article outlines why major gift fundraising metrics matter and some best practices for setting major gift fundraising goals (hint: they are SMART).  Table of Contents Why Major Gifts Fundraising Goals Matter Best Practices for Setting Major Gifts Fundraising Goals  Track Your Major Gifts Fundraising Progress ..read more

How your nonprofit can continue serving your mission during the incoming recession The impact of COVID-19 on the economy is significant, and all signs are pointing to an incoming recession. While we can’t know for sure what we’re getting into, we can look at the past and begin preparing for a recession with the information available to us.  During the Great Recession of 2008, total charitable giving dropped by over 7% and continued to decline until 2010. 7% might not sound like much, but when translated to dollars and cents, American nonprofits saw a decline of over $41 billion dollars b ..read more

In 2021, nonprofit email list sizes grew by 7%. That is 7% more donors that the sector is reaching out to using the tried and true method of email fundraising.  Fundraising emails are also one of the most effective tools for donor retention, acquisition, and conversion. So, it is vital you know how to write a fundraising email in a way that captures the attention of your reader and spurs them to take action.   This article outlines five best practices for writing fundraising emails. You can use these tips to up your email communications and engage more donors right now. Table ..read more

To improve your nonprofit fundraising performance as a nonprofit, you need to assess the success of your campaigns regularly. You can do this by tracking key nonprofit and fundraising KPIs.  Identifying and tracking the right nonprofit KPIs will give you a holistic understanding of how well your organization’s fundraising strategy is working. It will also help your team to work more efficiently towards your goals, mission, and targets.  This is why it’s so important to report your fundraising progress to your team, donors, stakeholders, and partners regularly. Fundraising reporting ..read more

Cultivating donor relationships to the point of a major gift is both an art and a science. It requires an intentional process that goes from identification, qualification, cultivation, and solicitation to stewardship. These steps make up the fundraising cycle, and the better you are at the first step, the better your chances of securing more major gifts.  This article discusses major gift prospects, specifically how and where you can find them.  Table of Contents Who are Major Gifts Prospects? What Qualifies as a Major Gift? How Do I Find Major Gifts Prospects?  Where can I f ..read more

In an ever-changing and increasingly competitive nonprofit sector, organizations have to find creative, strategic ways to reach and attract supporters and prospective donors. This means that more organizations must prioritize their marketing efforts and ensure they have a solid nonprofit marketing plan in place to achieve their goals.  This comprehensive will highlight the importance of nonprofit marketing and detail best practices that you can consider as you work to attract more donors. Table of Contents Who are Major Gifts Prospects? What Qualifies as a Major Gift? How Do I Find Maj ..read more