It’s been said by people smarter than me that “we measure what we value and we value what we measure.” I think there’s a lot of truth to that. The problem…
Nonprofits and Social Media–Strategy by the Numbers
Social media in the nonprofit world has been steadily growing, and viral campaigns like the infamous Ice Bucket Challenge have yielded tremendous…
Live the Give: Aubrey Hoeppner
Most of my volunteer involvement is through my church. I’m a leader for our high school youth group—sophomore girls this year—and strive to walk with them and provide encouragement as they grow in their faith during this challenging part of their lives.
Slowing the Revolving Door in the Development Office
“The person I just met with was asking for funds for a ministry that he said is the most important mission in the Kingdom of God. But last year, he…
Targeted Digital Marketing
The best approach to connecting your organization with potential donors is one that uses multiple channels to meet people where they are and…
Starstruck: Is Chasing Charity Ratings Strangling Your Nonprofit?
It happens all the time: an organization is evaluating a big expenditure and someone on the team mentions how it might affect the number of stars…
The Great Advantage of a Snail Mail Receipt
In my last blog, I urged you to not give in to pressure to use email as the channel for your thank-you letter and official donor receipt. If you remember I cited a statistic that’s pretty compelling . . . “most organizations receive as much as 30% of their direct response income from bounce-back or receipt income.” Notice I qualified my statement by using the phrase, “direct response.”
Online vs. Offline Channels as Income Sources
There are a lot of rumors, buzz, and desire to pressure you to move most of your organization’s fundraising to online channels, be it email, web…
Self-Awareness: The Best Friend of the Fundraiser
There’s an old country saying, “Don’t hire a dog and bark yourself.” In fact this is exactly what many nonprofit’s do; they hire a fundraising consultant…
A Word of Encouragement to the Development Committee of Your Board
If you find yourself on the Development Committee of your Board of Trustees, you are in a very powerful position. Next to the Finance Committee…
