Great information on all popular nonprofit topics written by experts in the field!

This is a guest post by Brian Saber Most fundraising professionals would prefer to do just about anything than ask someone for money face-to-face. Even for those who find it somewhat “easy,” it can be awkward and anxiety-inducing to ask for money, regardless of how good your cause is. Yet, deep down, we know asking for donations face to face for your nonprofit will end up making a huge impact… and the facts back that up. Asking in-person is proven to have the highest rate of success among all methods. Kent Dove of the Indiana University Foundation analyzed different ways of giving. Direct mail has the lowest success rate of the traditional fundraising methods –just 1-2%. Phone calls – not...

This is a guest post by Julia Campbell Welcome to the wonderful world of Facebook advertising! Facebook Ads for nonprofits, when created and launched strategically, can have powerful results for organizations looking to expand their online communities and raise more revenue. With over 1 billion daily active users sharing 4.75 billion pieces of content every day on the social network, launching a Facebook Ad campaign can set you apart and help you reach a targeted audience. This post is a simple guide to help you plan, create, launch, and measure a wildly successful Facebook Ads campaign to achieve your nonprofit’s objective, whether it be spreading awareness or raising money. Let’s jump...

This is a guest post by Erica Waasdorp

This is a guest post by Joseph Scarano Does your nonprofit’s current accounting software allow you to create separate financial statements by fund? How about generate budgets by grant, fund or program? The needs of a nonprofit are different from that of a commercial business, and that goes for accounting needs, too! This article will help you understand the needs of your organization and help you select the most effective software for your nonprofit. Evaluate Your Organization’s Needs First, list and prioritize your organization’s requirements to establish the most important elements required in a new system. The factors to consider are: Funding Sources and Budget for your Organization –...

This is a guest post by Simon Scriver Are you looking to bring on more large sponsors for your nonprofit? Great! Once you’ve identified the partners that you’d like to ask to for a corporate sponsorship, it’s time to consider how to provide great value in return for your ask. Before reaching out to the company, ask yourself… what does this company really want? Below is a list of ways you can create a win-win situation for corporate partners. Feel Good Factor Show them what will they achieve (not what your organization is doing…but what will be achieved because of them). They should feel part of the winning team. Connect them directly to your beneficiaries and your work through meetings,...

This a guest blog post by John Hayden

This a guest blog post by Jeff Brooks A “donor newsletter” is a newsletter for and about donors. Its message: Your giving to our organization is making the world a better place. You are accomplishing what you meant to accomplish when you gave! A donor newsletter is not an education piece – rather, it’s about what our donors have accomplished through us. And it’s not meant to be a chronicle of our successes. It tells the stories of success… and gives the donor the credit for helping make it possible. So, does your nonprofit need to produce a donor newsletter? When you produce a donor newsletter and send it to your donors, here’s what you can expect: A donor newsletter will increase...

This a guest blog post by Julia Campbell When looking for great online content to share with your target audience on your nonprofit’s social media channels, always think back to their passions and their interests. What gets them up in the morning? What keeps them awake at night? When you have a clear picture of who you are creating content for using online platforms such as your website, blog, email, and social media, you will be able to quickly brainstorm a list of content ideas and places to look. When you begin looking for content to share on your nonprofit social media channels, keep in mind that content comes in a variety of forms! This can range from videos, to photos, to current...

This a guest blog post by Julia Campbell, originally posted on Wild Apricot’s Blog

Originally posted in Wild Apricot´s Blog

Are fewer people attending your events these days? Are you hoping to dramatically increase attendance at your big conference this year? Rather than relying mostly on email blasts, word-of-mouth, and social media posts, many organizations are turning to Facebook ads to fill up their events. Advertising on Facebook works well for event promotion for two reasons: You can have your ad pop up in the Facebook feeds of everyone in your network. You can promote your event to new audiences that wouldn’t be possible through other channels. If you’re new to creating Facebook ads, here are the five best practices for boosting event attendance. 1) Why You Need to Crunch the Numbers? The biggest mistake...

This is a Guest Blog Post by Tobi Johnson, originally posted in Wild Apricot’s Blog Does your digital member newsletter have low engagement? If so, you’re not alone. Creating a newsletter that people want to read isn’t easy, but that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. In fact, many organizations I know write newsletters that their members actually look forward to. In this post, I’m going to cover the root cause of low newsletter engagement and practical tips to create a newsletter your members want to read. The first thing we need to acknowledge is that simply communicating online through things like digital newsletters tends to cause people to feel disconnected. Researchers call this the...

This is a Guest Blog Post by Julia Campbell, originally in Wild Apricot’s Blog

This is a guest blog post by Brian Saber, Cofounder of Asking Matters. If we think we can send board members out to fundraise without giving them tools, we might need some analysis. What are we thinking?! It’s a license for complete failure, and the proof is in the pudding. Time and again our board members fail to partner successfully with staff to develop the organization’s resources because we never show them how or provide the training. But They’re So Successful! Yes, we ask people to join our boards because we think highly of them. They might be successful businesspeople or impassioned community activists or enthusiastic volunteers. They might be articulate believers or prominent...

This is a guest blog post by Julia Campbell

This is a guest blog post by Erica Waasdorp How long does it typically take to set up a monthly donor program? From soup to nuts. At a recent webinar, I was asked the above question. The answer is: if you focus on it, you should be able to be up and running within a week. I realize that development people in small to mid-size organizations especially are always pulled in multiple directions and distractions are easy. That’s why I recommend you don’t launch the program until you have thought through and put in place the basics. But with a little bit of focus that can be done in a few days. You most likely have the systems already in place. Brainstorming about a name for a program can be done...

This post was a collaborative piece written by John Haydon, A.j. Steinberg, and Jeff Brooks.

This is a guest blog post by Tobi Johnson, MA, CVA Volunteer appreciation events can be wonderful opportunities to recognize the hard work and achievements of your board members and volunteers with authentic, heartfelt and generous acknowledgment. Too often though, overworked nonprofit organizers resort to the same breakfast, luncheon, or happy hour formula year after year. After a while, the event loses its glam and becomes a little worn and tired. Whether you are looking for ways to refresh your annual volunteer and board appreciation events, or you are kicking off a new event, you can incorporate more meaning into these celebrations. Here’s how: Chose Your Event Site or Location...

This a guest blog post by Kathie Kramer Ryan, founder of Arroyo Fundraising Would you ask someone to marry you on your first date? Chances are, no way! It’s just as unlikely that you—as a development professional—would ask a prospect to make a major gift to your organization during your first meeting. If you are planning or implementing a major gifts program, it’s a great time to review these 4 Steps to Fundraising Success. Step #1: Identify First, you’ll want to identify prospects who have the potential to become donors to your organization. Prospects may include friends and colleagues of your current donors, board members, committee members and other stakeholders. Consider former board...

By Julia Campbell In my work with nonprofits, I often hear the same refrain about nonprofit marketing and communications: People are feeling very overwhelmed and stressed out by their never-shrinking to do lists. With so many digital marketing and online fundraising tools out there, how can a small nonprofit choose what to focus on, and how can they manage their time and resources effectively? There are constantly emails to send out, a website to update, a Facebook page and Twitter feed to manage, Instagram and Snapchat to explore, plus phone calls and meetings… how can a small nonprofit get it all done? The answer? You don’t have to do it all! Creating a Strategic Online Nonprofit...

Corporations invest in social responsibility programs and activities to support their triple bottom line: people, profits, and the planet. Companies are smart to be concerned about corporate social responsibility (CSR), both because CSR is a driver among consumer groups and because some labels— think “organic,” “recycled,” “smaller carbon footprint”— are generally more costly for companies to attain, thereby reducing shareholder profitability. A corporation’s long-term success is based on its ability to balance the vision against the interests of key stakeholder groups. As a for-profit company, my company–JustWrite Solutions–considers these questions all the time. We have a formal CSR...

Blog Post by Heather Stombaugh Strategies and tactics in fundraising may change, but print publications continue to be a critical resource in the nonprofit toolbox. According to Kivi Leroux Miller’s 2016 Nonprofit Communication Trends report, print remains one of the top five most important communication channels in the nonprofit sector. Image Credit: Kivi Leroux Miller Every nonprofit should invest in creating compelling fundraising publications. However, in the tumult of other pressing needs, many small nonprofits put off developing their annual reports, cases for support, and other collateral to save money. Let me put this simply: in ANY business, you must spend money to make money....

Step 1 – Strategizing Our case study is about Save The Redwoods and their mission is to protect and restore Redwood forests. To help fulfill this mission, we wanted to reach out to their target audience, i.e. people concerned about the Redwood forests, for support.

By A.J. Steinberg

Have you ever received a rejection letter from a grantmaker and wondered what you could have done differently? Have you ever wondered, as you clicked submit for a significant government grant via online application, how your proposal will be received by reviewers? You aren’t alone! Grant writing is more of an art than a science if you consider how to customize your application and your organization’s story to meet the needs of each unique set of grant reviewers for each grantmaker. The best way to successfully achieve this art? Walk a mile in your grant reviewer’s shoes. Step back and look at your proposal as if YOU were the reviewer. Here are 5 key questions to ask yourself as you try to...

We’re big believers in the power of monthly donors. We have been managing monthly donor programs for decades and have seen the ongoing revenue it provides, especially in times of crisis. In some cases, it’s kept organizations afloat; even if they could not send appeals to ask for money, the monthly donations kept the funds coming in. That’s why we maintain that every organization can (and should) organize a monthly giving program. A few years ago when we first started teaching webinars at CharityHowTo, monthly giving was still in its infancy and was used primarily by larger organizations. But today, monthly giving is becoming more and more popular. With the right tools — which you may very...

I love teaching the Annual Reports webinars for CharityHowTo’s participants (How to Create an Awesome Annual Report and How to Transition Your Annual Report to an Infographic). Professionals who attend and engage have excellent questions, constructive ideas for others, and thoughtful approaches to serving their donors. And fundraising publications are one of my favorite topics in development. Sure, as a professional writer, I’m biased, but every nonprofit needs them and (should) use collateral all the time! While I know the folks who attend these webinars benefit from the conversation, I have also noticed a big problem. I receive A LOT of emails from potential participants who are...

You’ve seen them all over the interwebs. You run into them as you’re scrolling through your feed on Facebook, as you’re checking your Twitter updates, as you’re looking for remodeling ideas on Pinterest. They’re infographics, and they’re everywhere. But more importantly for nonprofits: infographics (and other data visualization tools) are not a passing trend. It’s time you add them to your fundraising toolbox. Infographics are graphic visual representations of information, data, or knowledge intended to present complex information quickly and clearly. Other data visualization tools—like charts, graphs, pictograms, gauges, dashboards, etc.—similarly present data in a pictorial or graphic...

Would you believe me if I told you that the grant budget is often the *first* reviewed portion of a grant application packet by the grant reviewer, grantmaker staff, or grantmaker board?

We recently hosted the webinar “Raising More Money with Event Sponsorship – A New Approach That Works!” by Joe Waters, author of Cause Marketing for Dummies. Here are some great tips Joe gave on how to partner with businesses to raise money for your nonprofit.