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...

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…...

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...

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?”

...

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...

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...

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...

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...

By Cathy Mann, MA, CFRE

The pandemic has kicked your butt.

It’s ok to admit it.A lot of us feel that way.

But despite how you feel, you still have to raise money for your important mission.And sometimes it feels overwhelming.  

Today I want to talk to you about your fundraising plan.  

Foundation and government grants, special events, direct mail, corporate giving, planned giving, volunteers, your data…the list goes...

We’ve been talking a lot about how to fundraise throughout this year's giving season, but what happens once a donor reaches your website and wants to make a donation? Do you have an online donation page that is easily accessible and quick to complete?

Online giving is growing at three times the rate of overall giving, so it’s really important to make sure that your online giving game is on point. You don’t want to put in all the work to steward your donors, only to lose...