Prospect research, RFM, wealth screeners, and other hands-off/arm’s-length methods of donor discovery can only work so well. And more often than not, the people they identify turn out to not be viable candidates for major gifts. In fact, we’ve written about five popular donor discovery methods that fail more than they succeed, and leave gaping holes in your organization’s fundraising that gift officers must struggle to fill. There is a better way. The best strategies for donor discovery are about engagement. The way to know if a person is interested in your mission is to give them opportuniti ..read more

If something about fundraising makes you uncomfortable, it isn’t because there’s something wrong with you but because there’s something wrong with the way you’re fundraising, or being expected to. Fundraising should be as easy as asking a friend to hang out. Chances are they’ll say yes, if not when you ask, then somewhere down the road. It’s not a matter of if but when. Of course, fundraising is not about you personally but the cause you represent. The request is not to hang out but to help. Still, that should be entirely comfortable if: You know they are philanthropic They have a strong aff ..read more

You know that feeling when you’re talking to someone, and you realize they’ve already made up their mind about you? It happens in dating, in political discussions, at work, and in many other contexts. And it’s annoying. Worse than that, it also puts up a wall between you and the other person. Well guess what? When you make assumptions about your major donors and prospects, the damage is even more severe. Why? Because the stakes of your relationships with major donors are very high. Major donors contribute over 80% of funding to most nonprofits. The percentages are increasing nationwide. I’ve ..read more

The most important goals in managing prospects or donors in our portfolios are: Establishing a rapport with donors Maintaining contact Finding ways for them to feel more connected Building trust The “moves management” school would have us believe that donors can be steadily nudged into making financial commitments as if philanthropic decision-making was a completely linear process masterminded by fundraisers. It’s neither. Then there’s the “just pick up the phone” or “just go meet with your donors” which seems to assume that donors: Don’t have much of a life Will take a meeting without kno ..read more

A well-placed referral can be the bridge to new partnerships, financial support, and resources. It can elevate your nonprofit from merely surviving to thriving. But the journey toward harnessing this potential isn’t solely about asking for referrals. What’s getting in the way? Do you have a process for generating referrals? If so, please share your wisdom so others can benefit. After all, referrals are like precious gems buried beneath the surface—often close at hand (many times among your volunteers), yet they are sometimes difficult to unearth. In our quest to inspire past major donors and ..read more

The two most important words in philanthropic facilitation are, “Because you”. As in: “Because you have such a vested interest in the empowerment of girls …” “Because you are so committed to helping your fellow veterans…” “Because you have such a passion for musical excellence…” “Because you have been so dedicated to breaking the grip of this disease…” “Because you” is such an important phrase because it shows you listened, came to understand your donors’ animating passions, and are now coming back to them with a concept that has a strong chance of resonating with their deepest purposes. You ..read more

Planned gifts often constitute some of the biggest gifts charities ever receive. But winning them requires you to make the donor think about their own death. Eww. Isn’t there a better way to bring this up? As it turns out – yes! We’re going to give you three legacy giving language tools you can use to bring up the idea of a planned gift, and none of them require going near the subject of death. The best thing about these planned giving strategies is that they are backed by research. And you can see more of the research and learn much, much more about legacy giving and how it taps into the cor ..read more

Practitioners of transactional fundraising and the cultures who default to it will never know, see, foster, or benefit from the best in human nature and what only time can ripen and bring to fruition. They will not have taken the time nor listened close enough to hear the deepest of philanthropic intentions, including those who seek to: Create opportunities for others that they were denied Use hard-learned lessons and setbacks to open doors for others Lessen for others the suffering that they or their loved ones have endured Right an injustice that held them back, denied their dignity, or fa ..read more

The longer I work with nonprofits, the more convinced I become that one of my core beliefs is true: If organizations ceased nearly all new-donor solicitations, they would be more financially efficient and would hardly lose any revenue. Is that ‘hot take’ a bit too bold for you? First, let’s clarify what I’m talking about, and what I’m not talking about, and then we’ll get to some examples and what to do instead. Fundraising Waste This is what I am talking about. Right now, most organizations spend lots of money trying to reach new, mostly low-dollar donors through ‘acquisition’ efforts. They ..read more

Gone are the days – or so they should be: Of imagining in splendid isolation what donors should do for us then foisting our brain children on the unsuspecting Of polishing the pitch to wow them into philanthropic submission rather than listen our way into alignments of interest Of cultivating rather than collaborating from the outset Of stroking egos rather than stoking philanthropic fires Of executing moves rather comparing notes Of putting on shows rather than fostering “insider-ship” Of closing gifts rather than coming to partnership terms Of stewarding just by thanking rather than providi ..read more