Dealing With Mindless Meetings & Donor Encounters

Dealing With Mindless Meetings & Donor Encounters

Either you’ve done it yourself, or you’ve experienced it. You get into a discussion with a donor, or you’re leading a meeting, and because you have not planned it well or you just have a need to process things out loud, the conversation wanders here and there. It...
Are Your Donor Strategy Meetings a Waste of Time?

Are Your Donor Strategy Meetings a Waste of Time?

How often have you left a donor strategy meeting with your team and thought, “That was a total waste of time.” It’s an hour of everyone reporting on what they’ve done well, only sharing successes (sometimes even repeating the same ones, meeting after meeting). It...
18 Barriers to Effective Relational Fundraising

18 Barriers to Effective Relational Fundraising

Every non-profit organization I’ve encountered has some kind of barrier that prevents a donor from freely giving to their heart’s content to that organization. Let me list a few: No donor acquisition strategy. A poorly developed donor cultivation strategy where they...
Six Skills to Look for When Hiring a Fundraiser Without a Fundraising Background

Six Skills to Look for When Hiring a Fundraiser Without a Fundraising Background

The adage is that you can teach skills but not attitude. When it comes to hiring fundraisers, I’d add a hearty, “Amen.”   To keep up with my own community, I have a LinkedIn alert for major gift jobs. I’m surprised when non-profits with small budgets are offering...