I just learned about something called National Volunteer Week – celebrated in April in the U.S. and June in the U.K. and possibly other countries as well. What a great opportunity for a nonprofit organization to recognize and celebrate its volunteers!

After the immense effort required to put on a fundraising event, it is tempting to take a breather after it’s over—maybe a few days off? After all, your donors were steeped in your message at the event so that’s good enough, right?

Wrong! Your donors—especially those who give major gifts at your event—still want to hear from you.

Last week I received an email from a nonprofit organization I support. Let’s call this organization the A SCHOOL. The email was an invitation to attend two upcoming events. While email certainly can be part of successful event campaign efforts, this email fell short in several key ways:

Have you ever gotten pushback from your board on the topic of major gifts? Maybe when the topic of asking for a significant gift from a donor comes up at a board meeting, you’ve heard, “Why don’t we just write more grant proposals?” Or, “Instead of starting a major gifts program, let’s hold another event.”

Many fundraisers focus on telling client stories, impact stories, stories about how our programs are changing the world for the better. These stories tug at the heart strings. We are comfortable communicating this sort of information.

Need an easy and inexpensive way to connect with your donors that is personalized and will make a real impact? Who doesn’t, right? Read on for 5 reasons why thank-you videos are one of my favorite ways to thank donors!

“I’d like to help with fundraising, but it’s not possible without an elevator pitch.” Sound familiar? How about this: “If we had an elevator pitch about our organization, I’d be able to connect with people about what we do. Without one, I don’t know what to say.”

The high turnover rates among senior development staff are well known. This reality, combined with the high expense of providing salary and benefits to a development director (DD) causes many smaller organizations to ask themselves: Is there another way?

If there’s one thing I love, it’s being productive. Over the years I’ve made lists, checked things off, and even touted the virtues of To-Do lists in this post.