Your data tells a story: Are you listening?

Do you want to grow planned giving? Do you have a shrinking annual fund? Is your fundraising campaign stalled? Graham Pelton explain how you can look at what your data is telling you. If you are willing to transform the way you fundraise, data-driven strategies will yield better decisions, improve performance, and accelerate your growth. […]

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, […]

16 Fundraising Success Metrics to Start Tracking

Measuring performance is a crucial step that nonprofits must take to succeed. There’s no better way of isolating and troubleshooting any ongoing problems. And worry not, there’s no shortage of methods of measuring performance. They’re called fundraising success metrics here, but they are also often referred to as key performance indicators (KPIs). These metrics are […]

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 […]

How do we know philanthropy helps students succeed?

There is little doubt that philanthropy supports student success. Just don’t ask how many students receive meaningful supports thanks to donors, or how donations correlate to increases in student retention. The way universities usually silo their data, those questions are nearly impossible to answer. We ought to have answers. Reporting income raised is not the […]

A seven-step approach to problem solving with your team

A colleague walks into your office and says, “We have a big problem…”, as the leader often the desire is to jump into action and get the problem solved as quickly as possible. The key to success is to step back and immediately begin a seven-step process which will help you to gain detailed understanding […]

The fundraising paradox

If Our Donors Aren’t Listening, Are We Really Communicating? With the relative ease and low-cost of online communication, many nonprofits have more messages directed at prospects and donors than ever before. But it is generally estimated that donors and prospects see more than 5,000 marketing messages a day: “Buy this soft drink. These are the […]

Nonprofit Newsletters Donors Abhor

Donor newsletters are a great stewardship tool, if employed correctly. However, they don’t always contain the content donors are looking for or arrive at the right time. Here, Claire Axelrad shares her top tips for sending your newsletter to the next level. https://bloomerang.co/blog/nonprofit-newsletters-donor-abhor/

Why Creating Donor Engagement Opportunities Boosts Fundraising

Just because I care about something, and somehow learn you are involved in doing something about that thing, doesn’t mean I’m going to support you financially. Why should I? There are a lot of good causes out there, and making a decision to invest in you is something I need to act on. I’m busy. […]

12 Online Fundraising Ideas

One of the challenges that nonprofits face when fundraising is finding unique ways to connect to donors and inspire giving. While simply asking can accomplish much, making donating fun does a lot more. Coming up with fundraising ideas isn’t always easy. So here is Michelle Frechettee with a dozen ideas to consider to help grow […]