Did you know that legacy fundraising produces the most ROI (return on investment) of any fundraising activity? Stephen Pidgeon states in his book How To Love Your Donors to Death that the average amount of a bequest in the US is about $37,000. Compare that to the average major gift of $5,000. With that kind … Continue reading Successful Legacy Fundraising | 12 In-depth Insights and Tips
How to guide your audience to support your mission
Wouldn’t it be amazing if you could count on a certain percentage of people in your email list to donate to your organization, and a certain percentage of those donors to become passionate, sustaining members or even board members? Just like traveling through a forest, a guide can show your audience how to move on … Continue reading How to guide your audience to support your mission
Cat People and Dog People
Are you a cat person or a dog person? The answer to that might impact your choice of a (potential) mate. The experiment on an online dating site randomized the same male in two different photos, one holding a cat, one not. Women then “swiped” to show interest. The guy with the cat was considered … Continue reading Cat People and Dog People
Human-centered design, design thinking
Emily Taylor writes about listening - how to do it, why it’s important, and what we can learn from it. For-profits have been listening to their customers for years - tailoring experiences and clearly communicating their offerings in ways that make it easy to understand (think of a Starbucks menu or a Uber Eats delivery … Continue reading Human-centered design, design thinking
5 Ways for Nonprofits to Tell an Ethical Story
In an effort to raise money and awareness for causes, nonprofit organizations often feel compelled to tell stories of desperate victims. Well-intentioned efforts to convey the urgency and severity of need lead organizations to reduce people to their problems. And to stand out in the crowded marketplace, organizations often conflate value with heroism, representing themselves … Continue reading 5 Ways for Nonprofits to Tell an Ethical Story
10 Ways Your Brain Reacts to Uncertain Times
Volatility. Uncertainty. Complexity. Ambiguity. These four words (shorthanded to “VUCA”) describe the type of high-stress, high-demand scenarios that can rapidly degrade one of our most powerful and influential brain systems: our attention. Right now, during the COVID pandemic, we are all living in VUCA conditions. Compounding the constant health and economic concerns, we are facing … Continue reading 10 Ways Your Brain Reacts to Uncertain Times
A Mental Trick to Help with Challenging Conversations
Imagine the colleague with whom you have a very challenging relationship, the person who makes the most innocuous conversation tense and uncomfortable. Now imagine the following scenario: You’re sitting at your desk working away when a message from that person pops up on your screen. You open the message and it reads: “I got the … Continue reading A Mental Trick to Help with Challenging Conversations
Helpful advice for aspiring writers of all ages
“Write something good, and feel good about writing it.” That sentence is from award-winning writer Jacqueline Woodson in response to the question “What’s the goal of writing when you’re 15?” Being a writer is all about expressing your unique perspective with feeling and originality, not about having a huge vocabulary or getting published, says author … Continue reading Helpful advice for aspiring writers of all ages
Don’t Waste Your Time on Networking Events
Large, traditional business networking events are a time-honored institution. They have been a staple of aspiring and successful professionals for so long that most networking advice focuses not on whether you should attend, but on how to make the most of these events when you do attend. In theory, they’re one of the best ways … Continue reading Don’t Waste Your Time on Networking Events
5 Email Marketing Sequences You Should Set Up For Your Nonprofit
One of the most valuable tools available to digital marketers is email marketing. If used properly, it has extraordinary potential to increase revenue and boost return on investment (ROI) in your marketing efforts. But your results depend significantly on your emails' timing and content. A surefire way to power up your email marketing is to … Continue reading 5 Email Marketing Sequences You Should Set Up For Your Nonprofit
