The Science Behind Storytelling and How To Use The Pixar Framework

Storytelling permeates nearly every aspect of our society. The human brain is hardwired to respond to the power of storytelling. From curling up with a good book, to taking a trip to the movies, to listening to your friend recount what they did last weekend, human beings love to be enthralled by stories. Throughout history, […]

How to get your charity’s funding application to the top of the pile

Philanthropists’ programme officers browse countless proposals from charities. Rachel Stephenson Sheff is a fundraising and philanthropy adviser at IG Advisors, where she represents the foundations of two philanthropists. She started her career as a fundraiser but going through applications to help clients decide where to put their money is a whole new ball game. So […]

Three things I look for in pitches

Richard Branson needs no introduction and there is no doubt that he has heard thousands of pitches. What can fundraisers learn from Richard when it comes to us pitching to wealthy individuals? Richard states: “Throughout my career, I have heard thousands of pitches: formal business sit-downs, opportunist moments in elevators, and some very inventive incidents […]

Should You Include Major Donor Prospects in Your Year-End Appeal?

Here’s the challenge – you’ve developed close, friendly, easy connections with your major gift prospects. You’re investing tons of time with these special major donor prospects — visiting with them, listening to their ideas, sharing your work with them. They are getting high-touch, very personalized treatment all the time, and they’re feeling like insiders at […]

Background investigations – Don’t skip the media report

Due diligence background investigations come in all flavors. They’re generally customised according to industry, level of risk, and time constraints. There’s one component, though, that should be included in all background checks on people and companies – the media report. It’s the section of a background investigation that covers news and social media. The media […]

Which traits predict graduates’ earnings?

Which university graduates will go on to earn the most money? Labour-market observers should not be surprised to find that both the subjects people study and the universities they attend are strong predictors of career earnings. A report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), a think-tank, provides further clarity on this question by matching […]

10 Ways to Find New Donors for Your Nonprofit Organization

Each year, approximately 10% of your non-profit donor base will attrition naturally through death, moving, or just not giving any longer. Then you add lapsed donors on top of that natural attrition, and you are looking at an eroding donor list. Sound familiar? Here, Robin Cabral shares some simple steps that you can take to […]

How to Identify and Respond to Fundraising NOs

One of the greatest challenges of being a development professional is dealing with rejection. The fact is, you are going to hear the word “No” a lot. But the best fundraisers know not to take it personally and get right back on that fundraising horse. They also learn that sometimes a No can help you […]

Alumni Engagement: What We’ve Gotten Wrong And How To Fix It

At some level, every fundraiser knows that alumni engagement is an important driver of alumni giving. At the same time, the advancement profession seems perpetually perplexed by how to measure engagement and apply those measures to increase philanthropy. Why is that? Generally speaking, advancement offices have access to a pretty accurate picture of who alumni […]

7 simple steps to qualify your donors

Unsuccessful fundraisers don’t understand qualification. They don’t recognize its power. They wait for the next wealth screened list. They fiddle with it in Excel or in some other database. They make a few calls. They don’t get any appointments. They give up. Then they say the list was no good. Unsuccessful fundraisers don’t use the […]