Follow Up So Donors Follow Through
We hear from many donors in the field that they often just forget to respond to an invitation to give. They planned to follow through, but they needed follow up. With that in mind, let’s consider a “follow up so donors can follow through” strategy. It is really simple.
The Joy of Giving
December is a great opportunity to help people think more intentionally about giving, about helping others, and how we can make that a continuous way of life, as opposed to something we do for a season.
Income to Intention
Giving is not an income based practice. Giving is a values and heart based practice.
Lessons in Stewardship
Sarah captured some insights about stewardship that she gained from a Biblical parable. I thought these insights would be helpful to share with everyone, so we are sharing them in our Bits and Bytes.
Season for Stewardship
I like seeing how organizations are translating themselves and how donors respond. It all beckons back to stewardship, generosity and sharing our love of people.
Reducing Volunteer Attrition
As we move through the fourth quarter, I want to remind everyone that as you are engaging volunteers that you are also nurturing them. Research shows that the average volunteer attrition rate is about 67% per year--that means 67 of every 100 volunteers stop giving their time EACH YEAR.
Strength's and Culture
August is a great month for reflection, and I wanted to get you thinking about your strengths this month. Not just realizing that your staff, volunteers and board members should be your closest constituencies, but also that those people need to be able to work together for the good of the cause.
Giving Trends for Summer
I wanted to share two important pieces of recent research on giving as we enter into summer. You can download them online—please see the links in this newsletter.
Inside the Numbers: Non-Profit Board
This is the updated picture of what the average board of directors in a nonprofit organization looks like today. The biggest areas of change are in composition, giving, and meeting attendance.
Rethinking Donor Fatigue
I want to reflect on a topic I was discussing this week - donor competition. I have a pretty hard head, but after hearing from thousands and thousands of donors over the years (face-to- face, through survey and by phone) I finally started to understand that donor fatigue and competition for donor money are really issues of incongruence.
Are You Growing Philanthropy?
I thought this month I would share a refresher about philanthropy. I wrote this simple article on philanthropy, below, after a few requests to revisit philanthropy as a fundamental principle.
Philanthropy Begins With Relationship
I encourage you to think about how you are allowing your organization to be served by those who care for the common cause. How are they serving? Are you building an organizational culture that seeks to engage people because they want to serve as part of their own growth journey and fulfillment, or just because we think we need them for survival?
Breaking the Nonprofit Starvation Cycle
As 2016 winds down, more attention is being paid to fall appeals and the condition of the nonprofit sector, in particular, a phenomenon called the "Nonprofit Starvation Cycle." This was first described by Don Howard and Ann Goggins Gregory in 2009 in the Stanford Social Innovation Journal, a great journal by the way. With so much attention being paid again to it recently I thought I'd share some thoughts on this important issue.
Why Year-End Giving Counts
The final three months of the calendar year are an important time to welcome new donors and invite repeat gifts from previous donors, with 40 percent of charitable donations typically being made in December, according to The Fund Raising School.
Inviting the Board to Give
For the next few months we get to see how nonprofit organizations are positioning themselves to their donors through solicitation. It's an amazing revelation into how organizations see their donors--how they value or devalue their relationships, how they nurture or don’t nurture their donors.
The Power of Story in Fundraising
As you head into fall, keep in mind that top priority in fundraising for fall quarter is good cultivation and relationally relevant solicitation.
Harvesting the Fruits of Service
I wanted to take this time to share some recent research with you, and also affirm your work, whether as a volunteer or a staff member. As you sow, you will be renewed and your service will result in the thankfulness of others who, like me, see your commitment and are inspired to continue to press on to help others.
The Power of Giving
The US philanthropic sector is an amazing thing--it's the most developed, robust and comprehensive charitable sector in the world.
Strong Foundations
Researchers are shedding light on the problems caused by constant pressure to do more with less in the nonprofit sector. How different this is from the for-profit approach that is focused on internal strength and structure.
True Impact of Nonprofits
The U.S. is home to the most vibrant, strong and largest nonprofit sector in the world--more than 1.4 million organizations. It is always frustrating to me to see how sensationalized things become without looking at the full context of the trust equity, quality leadership, and amazing organizations we have. I wish that the media and critics would spend more time looking at our impact as opposed to what happens in one organization.