Oh man, today’s topic is so important!

We’re talking thank you letters.

They’re a critical piece to your fundraising mix but often, they’re either not done well or sometimes not even done at all.

So, I’m going to answer the age-old question: how is a thank you letter like a drag queen?

Doesn’t everyone ask that?

Before I share a story, let me talk about why we even need thank you letters.

Did you know that something like 60% of first-time donors do not make a second donation?

And app...

Oh data…we love you but why is our relationship a struggle sometimes?

You know, every client we’ve ever worked with needed to work on their data. So if you feel like your data needs some work…

You. Are. Not. Alone.

Your database can do so many important things…if it is well configured.

We have a lot of clients vociferously tell us just how bad their donor database is. When we ask a few more questions, we usually discover that they are using a not bad off-the-shelf donor database software s...

Have you ever heard of the old Zen saying: If you don’t have time to meditate for 5 minutes, then meditate for an hour.

(ummmm….I can’t do that with my legs)

Now, I’m not sure if you’ve ever tried meditating but when you are a fundraiser, you are b.u.s.y. And there are only so many hours in a day.

And as a fundraiser, you have multiple projects that need to be worked on concurrently.

You have…

• A direct marketing (DM) campaign that needs to get out
• A couple of big foundation grants (due
...

Remember last week’s blog post when I shared a story about how hard I worked on my fundraising plan, had some allies on the board and pitched it to them?

Well, let me share some of last week so the rest of it makes sense…I didn’t sit down with my CEO, John, to go over the plan in detail because he didn’t really want that.

So I presented. I had my charts and my graphs and the narrative. I walked everyone through my scenarios.

And then a board member asked…“What does John think about this?”

>>...

It’s my friend’s birthday today and for most, it’s a very special time. You want to celebrate with friends and family, open presents, and my favourite…eat cake.

Get your fork…there’s enough for all of us!

 And yes, I know that I talked about cake before, but I really love it!

Talking about celebrations, you want to feel elated when your board signs off on your fundraising plan because you know you poured yourself into building it and they should just approve it, non?

There’s more to it tha...

Have you ever watched the TV show, Schitt’s Creek? If not, it’s a hilarious take on a wealthy family who has lost everything and has to move to a motel in a small town they bought in…you guessed it, Schitt’s Creek. Our favourite character, although very hard to choose, is Moira. Why? Because she says things like the following…

“After a glut of unasinous ideas put forth today, the room is suddenly bombilating with anticipation; can you feel that?”

Bombilate means ‘buzz’ but we won’t use big w...

Hey there,

I think we need a bit of a shift in thinking about fundraising programs. And we want to talk about ALL of the elements that you need to be aware of including some we don’t necessarily spend much time talking about.

And I’m going to say something that provokes a strong reaction from non-fundraisers:

Fundraising is a critical part of the mission of your organization.

Let’s repeat it for the people in the back…

Fundraising is a critical part of the mission of your organization.

G...

Being successful at major gifts is an art unto itself. That’s why we wanted to share more with you in this two-part series.

So last week (if you need a refresher, you can check out the blog here), we talked about the importance of (1) a plan and (2) knowing what you’re asking your donors for…

But that’s not all…

Here’s the rest of the secret sauce.

In addition to planning and knowing what you need funding for, there are two more elements to put into place so you can secure gifts that will m...

It’s easy, they say.

I’ll just wing it, they say.

I know the donor, they say.

They say…is not what we say.

There are several things you need to put into place to be successful with major gifts…especially if you’re a small shop and it’s either a one-person show or a small team.

We’re going to provide some direction so you can run a solid program…because the better you are at major gifts, the more money you bring into your organization and that’s a good thing!

Here are two key initiatives y...

As a fundraiser, you know how to do your job. And you’re getting some results. But do you ever stop and think: ‘Can I be doing better?’

It’s a common thought among fundraisers. It’s what we do and it’s who we are. Especially when there are so many things your organization could be doing better if you had more funding.

Sometimes, we’re so deep in the weeds of our day to day that it’s difficult to then pull up to look at the whole fundraising house from the required 60,000 feet. 

But that’s whe...