When Giving Tuesday started six years ago, it was about designating a day for people and organizations to celebrate philanthropy. Created by 92nd Street Y, a cultural center in New York City focused on bringing people together around the values of giving back, #GivingTuesday is now a global movement that connects individuals, communities, and organizations around the […]
fundraising
People Who Give Do It Often, Survey Shows
Donors are giving to multiple organizations and are giving to their favorite organizations with increasing regularity. Half (50 percent) of all donors give to two or three charities and the rest are more likely to give to four or more causes (29 percent) than just one (21 percent). Greater than half of donors (55 percent) […]
The SMART Way to Create Fundraising Goals
If you’re looking to increase donations for your nonprofit organization, your first move will be to improve the fundraising goals you set for your organization. Most nonprofits have fundraising goals, but not all goals are created equal. In 1981, an article by George Doran, There’s a S.M.A.R.T. Way to Write Management’s Goals and Objectives, appeared in Management Review. It […]
11 Fundraising Emails Best Practices to Drive High Response Rates
Fundraising emails provide a significant stream of income for many nonprofit and cause-based groups. However, this fundraising technique requires your recipients to take action not once, but twice. First, you need to get your recipients to open the email and then you need to get them to respond to your message. Do it right, and […]
3 Mistakes Nonprofits Make When Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is becoming increasingly common in organizations’ strategic planning. When crowdfunding campaigns are run correctly, nonprofits can realize incredible returns versus traditional fundraising methods. However, don’t expect the “if you build it they will come” result. Crowdfunding campaigns involve more than just setting up a page so you can sit back and watch the donations […]
7 Essential Matching Gift Steps to Take in the New Year
As we approach the end of 2017, it’s time to look forward to ways to increase donations in 2018. It can feel like you’ve exhausted every fundraising avenue already like your donors have given all they can give. But what if that weren’t the case? What if you could significantly increase your donations with no […]
Data Appends: A Guide for Your Nonprofit
Analytics is all the rage in development offices. Data scientists and prospect researchers on the nonprofit payroll are working side by side to mine data within the nonprofit’s information system and create models that predict who is likely to give—and who is not. Adding highly skilled staff to do this analysis is expensive, but stretches […]
Is Your Nonprofit Ready for #GivingTuesday?
Giving Tuesday 2016 yielded $168,000,000 in nonprofit donations. Is your nonprofit ready to leverage end-of-year giving in 2017? #GivingTuesday is right around the corner and presents a unique opportunity for nonprofits nationwide to drive in new donors (both financial and time-based). If you are not familiar with #GivingTuesday, it is a national campaign that begins the Tuesday after Thanksgiving (Nov. […]
5 Research-Backed Lessons on Major Gifts Fundraising
Last month, the Blackbaud Institute released a report entitled “Share of the American Wallet,” which uses the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey data to explore how demographic attributes and discretionary spending patterns relate to philanthropy. The study provides useful and interesting insights on general philanthropic trends across the United States and confirms common wisdom about […]
23 of the Best Fundraising Ideas for Growth
Historically, the path to nonprofit growth has been ill-defined. In fact, according to Tracy Palandjian of Social Finance, “of the 200,000 or so nonprofits that were created between 1975 and 2008, only 200—that’s 0.1 percent of these nonprofits—have reached 50 million in annual revenues.” But the tides are turning. An increasing number of nonprofits are […]