The start of a new quarter is a great time to step back and do some strategic planning for your non-profit. I personally love planning in 90 day increments because they are easier to manage and predict. You can check out a video tutorial I have on creating your non-profit’s 90-day communications plan here.Today we’re going to plan your non-profit’s stories for the next 90 days. Grab your pen and paper and let’s get planning!A few more resources to help you plan your non-profit’s stories for the ..read more

If your non-profit has an email list that you are using to raise money, increase awareness, or reach other goals, chances are you sometimes find yourself wondering what to put in your next email. Whether your content has dried up like a summer creek bed or you have so much to share you don't know what to pick, these are two sides of the same coin that we're going to dig into in this article as we examine email marketing strategy for non-profits.And before we go too much further, if you're ..read more

With new rules for bulk senders coming down from Google and Yahoo this year, more non-profits are beginning to pay attention to a long overdue topic -- email deliverability. It may not be as exciting as the latest social trend, but given that email is the best direct response channel on the internet, it's a topic we all need to care more about.If you're not sure what 'email deliverability' entails, here is the simplest way to understand it courtesy of Campaign Monitor: email deliverability ..read more

Year-end fundraising season is upon us! I started having conversations with clients about year-end campaigns a couple of weeks ago. With over a decade of direct response fundraising experience under my belt, this time of year I’m always reminded that time is our friend in fundraising. No matter what size year-end fundraising campaign you’re running, you benefit from starting the planning process early.  As Benjamin Franklin once said, “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.” This ..read more

Believe it or not, there's a right way to tell a fundraising story. And by fundraising story, I mean a story that you're using to raise money for your non-profit. A fundraising story needs the right story structure to connect with the audience, demonstrate need, and invite the audience to get involved by making a donation. In today's video, I'm sharing story structure that I teach my clients and students inside The Storytelling Non-Profit Master Class. Why Non-Profits Need a Story ..read more

As a non-profit organization, a thank you letter is one of the first touch points a donor receives after making a gift to your organization. Much like a first impression, the words in that letter matter. This thank you letter can be the gateway to building a long lasting relationship between the donor and your cause. Learning how to write a donor thank you letter is a skill all fundraising professionals need. Are you curious about how to write an impactful thank you letter to your donor? In this ..read more

As a consultant specializing in Non-Profit Storytelling, fundraising, and communications, author of The Storytelling Non-Profit: A practical guide to telling stories that raise money and awareness, and the creator of immersive online training programs for non-profit professionals, I have lots of examples of non-profit storytelling to share with you.I have analyzed and written many non-profit storytelling case studies, conducted interviews with non-profit organizations and gathered lots of ..read more

Any nonprofit organization dreams of having successful fundraising campaigns. Of course, managing a fundraising campaign can have a lot of parts and pieces. It can be a challenge to figure out how to manage them all while dealing with other day-to-day fundraising tasks.So, what is the key behind a successful fundraising campaign? A lot of planning and exceptional project management.Whether the fundraising campaign has a $5,000 or a $5 million goal, or if it’s a seasonal campaign, what really ..read more

When I talk with clients about fundraising growth strategies, donor retention and donor relations tend to be at the top of the strategy list. After all, it costs more money to acquire new donors than to retain current donors. And one of the areas that can give non-profits the biggest bang for their buck is donor communications. Creating a stellar and consistent donor communications plan can foster community and loyal donor relationshipsIt is important to me that my clients build a community of ..read more

Hands up if you've made it to the end of December feeling totally burned out an exhausted?That's right, my hand is up, too. Year-end fundraising can really take it out of us. We've got a million plates spinning, plus the added stress of the holiday season and our personal lives. It all adds up and can really take its toll on us. But it doesn't have to. There are ways to self-manage, have good boundaries and take better care of ourselves so that burn out doesn't become our new ..read more