What to Look For When Choosing a Fundraising Consulting Firm
When gearing up for a new campaign, some nonprofits are skeptical about whether to use a fundraising consultant. They may be reluctant to spend extra budget dollars or to bring in people who aren’t native to their organization. The decision to bring in outside counsel may seem intimidating. But weighing the costs and the benefits, […]
5 Best Books for Nonprofit Fundraising
Everybody’s got a book club these days, so we thought we’d better get in the mix too! The fundraising professionals on our team have centuries of combined experience and are currently raising millions of dollars for nonprofits all over the country. Who better to turn to for reading recommendations for the best nonprofit fundraising books? […]
Top 10 Apps Your Nonprofit Needs
The following is a guest post from our friends at Wild Apricot. Many of the top nonprofits I’ve worked with have one thing in common: they regularly use tech tools to help them in every department. In today’s mobile-driven world, that means it’s time to start using apps. But there are literally thousands of apps […]
Five Reasons Why You Need a Strategic Plan
The following is a guest post from our friends at Creative Economic Development Consulting. We are always surprised when we hear professionals disparage strategic planning. While some folks may see the process as a barrier to beginning the “real work”, strong nonprofit leaders see a strategic planning process as the ultimate tool for aligning and […]
Propensity vs. Capacity to Give
As fundraisers, we love donors (or investors, as we prefer to think of them) who possess high propensities and high capacities to give. Their passion perfectly aligns with the organization, and they tend to be at the top of lists for capital campaign chairs and committees. What about recent investors who have either strong propensity […]
Are you drowning in data?
Cost Per Dollar Raised. Donor Retention Rate. Matching Gift Rate. Social Return on Investment. The list goes on for metrics and measurements that come across your desk as a nonprofit executive on a daily or even hourly basis. No one can deny the importance of data: collecting it, understanding it, and communicating it. But equally […]