Article by Robyn Zimmann   I know, you’re thinking “Jeez Louise, I’m barely through with 2021’s giving season, can I please take a break?”  No. No, you cannot take a break. Or, let’s just say your break depends on how you answer this little handful of questions I have for you.   What’s going on with your organizations thank-you letters right now? The donations have been pouring in (hopefully!) and your donors are expecting what many of them may refer to as “the tax letter”, but if that’s your name for it, well, that’s sad. If your thank-you to your donors is a perfunctory email ..read more

By Robyn ZimmannSenior Consultant at Cain Nonprofit Solutions   It’s that time of year when all the annual fund letters from various organizations are starting to pile up on my desk. What have I already done this year? Turns out I’m part of the herd – according to a new study by data axle, 51% of donors say they have not changed their donation amount during the pandemic (that’s me). Better yet, 28% have said they now donate more than they did prior to the pandemic, while 21% give less. If you’re relying on, (and hoping for) your donor base remaining loyal, rest easy. Only 7% of respondent ..read more

It wasn’t that long ago that headlines were announcing that email is “dead”, “dying”, “obsolete” and “so 90’s”. Well, there are over 4 billion email users with in-boxes containing an average of 200 emails, so let’s just for fun pretend that email isn’t dead, and that for many nonprofit organizations it’s still the easiest and most cost-effective way to reach our constituents.   “But”, you ask, “what about social media?” I’m not an expert here, but not everyone is on social media, and if I want my patrons and donors to feel like they’re being personally reached? I think you get what I mean ..read more

I am so excited to introduce to you the newest member of the CNPS team: Robyn Zimmann, Senior Consultant. Robyn is someone I've known and worked with for years and for whom I have immense respect. She actually used to be my boss and in a truly weird reversal of roles I now find myself hiring her. But I'm pretty jazzed about the prospect of getting to work with her again, especially since I still to this day use many of the processes and systems that she taught me years ago and I absolutely credit her with molding so much of my attention to detail and conscientiousness which I think is so cruci ..read more

Whether you’re a newbie to grant writing or you’re a veteran in the nonprofit grant writing arena, no one should ever really be done improving and learning. After all, it’s a journey, right?   Although I think I’m a pretty solid writer and I have a great track record behind me, I’m always looking for new perspectives, new tools, and new resources to help me do my job even better. Hopefully I’ll continue to learn throughout my entire career.   But part of what I try to do is to pass on the things I’ve already learned to other grant writers – especially those who are newer to the profe ..read more

The National Endowment for the Arts (or “NEA”, for short) is the Federal funding agency for arts and culture organizations in the United States. They have several grant opportunities each year and most arts nonprofits usually want a piece of that pie.    Of course, whether or not you actually get a piece depends on several factors and to give you a better understanding of those and a better shot at an eventual award, I want to break down how to get started with NEA grants today.   First up, a disclaimer: Some of you reading this are not ready for NEA grants. You probably aren’t ..read more

All grant proposals are different. Some have strict requirements and lengthy lists of questions. Others ask very few questions and don’t require much in the way of hard metrics. But regardless of what type of proposals you may be working on at this moment in time, there is one thing I can say with certainty:   You will run into proposals that ask you to write out the goals, objectives, and outcomes for your program or project.   Now, that sounds pretty straightforward, but is it really? Do you know the difference between a goal, an objective, and an outcome? And more importantly, do ..read more

Looking for the biggest key trends in grant writing for 2021? Look no further. It’s almost the New Year (thank goodness and good riddance to the dumpster fire that is 2020) and that means a whole new year of grants!   I think there are many things on the horizon this coming year, both personally and professionally, for many of us. It looks like 2021 will have some unfortunate holdovers from 2020, though, such as COVID-19, social distancing, and the need to alter programming, events, and staffing. That means that most nonprofits will need to plan accordingly when it comes to pursuing grant ..read more

A ..read more

A ..read more