If you follow philanthropy news, you’ve seen the headlines: "2022 Worst Year Ever for Fundraising!” “2023 Shaping Up to Be Even Worse!”
If you follow philanthropy news, you’ve seen the headlines: "2022 Worst Year Ever for Fundraising!” “2023 Shaping Up to Be Even Worse!”
A planned giving website gives our “silent donors” (the ones who choose not to tell us about a planned gift) a place to go for information. Even the oldest prospects are online these days — they’re connecting with friends and family on social media; getting news from their favorite network’s website; and learning more about the causes they love by visiting them online. An online presence for your planned giving program is a 24/7 tool.
Transparency and building trust rank near the top for values fundraisers must cultivate. With competition for donor dollars increasing year after year, adopting a clear and validated set of professional values will boost donor peace of mind. The Donor Bill of Rights delivers a widely-accepted list of basic expectations between donors and their chosen nonprofits. Consider adopting these guidelines to lend legitimacy to your organization. This document will also help you observe the building blocks for a well-functioning development department.
For many nonprofits, the fundraising appeal provides the backbone for year-end, fiscal year-end, and annual campaigns. The appeal, often a direct mail letter or e-blast, frames the most important concepts surrounding your nonprofit and encourages donors to join the cause. Because an appeal is so essential, fundraisers must begin with a solid foundation for this fundraising strategy. Follow these five elements of effective fundraising appeals as a useful template for all of your upcoming appeals.
Bequests and Beneficiary Designations make up over 92.5% of all planned gifts. And it’s a very simple gift for your supporters to make since it does not affect their cashflow or lifestyle during their lifetime.
We’ve all seen those late-night TV infomercials by high-energy pitchmen selling the same old products year after year since the ’90s: “Just set it, and forget it!”, “Operators are standing by!”, “But wait, there’s more!” Regardless of what you think about their advertising styles, many of those companies are still around and enjoying hefty bottom lines by selling Showtime Rotisserie Grills, ThighMasters, Snuggies, and Ginsu Knives. And their success rates can be traced to one common denominator: consistent branding.
It’s time for a reality check: Your donors are on the internet—and your planned giving program should be, too. The argument that older donors aren’t computer savvy just doesn’t hold water anymore.
As a young ambitious person I remember boasting, “I’m a perfectionist.” And I was! I believed there was a right way to do everything. And I was downright obnoxious about it to the point that I would teach an employee how to hold a pencil. But now I know better.
It’s been two years since my mom died. But in my mind, she had already passed away seven years ago, with the onset of dementia.
Being an active listener ranks highly as a skill valued in any profession. However effective listening skills prove even more useful in a relationship-building job like fundraising. In fact, becoming an empathic listener is one of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. A few simple tips can help you retrain yourself into becoming a better listener. Read on to learn the top five habits to help you build active listening skills.
Sometimes it seems like every nonprofit is currently searching for engaged, committed board members. You may live in a place where the usual CEOs, entrepreneurs, and political figures’ list of board assignments is already too lengthy to ask them to add your nonprofit too.
Charitable gift annuities are a dynamic planned giving vehicle that can provide a major gift to a nonprofit while also delivering peace of mind to your major donor.
The textbook definition of a commission is, “a fee paid to an agent or employee for transacting a piece of business or performing a service.” However I prefer to think of a commission, in terms of the nonprofit world, as connecting inspiration with financial and community support. Commissioning clubs provide a uniquely inspirational way to connect major donors intimately with the cause they care about.
A culture of philanthropy ranks as one of the most vital foundations to a successful development department. Nonprofits looking to boost fundraising and build substantial relationships with major donors should first measure the strength of their organization’s culture of philanthropy.
Many nonprofits choose to set a clear fundraising expectation from each member of their nonprofit board. However some nonprofits choose to let their board members decide the amount of their gift to the organization each year. Others permit board volunteers to give in ways that aren’t financial. But what are the risks and rewards of setting a minimum board giving level?
Artificial intelligence is today’s most relentless buzzword, as teachers, bosses, online daters, and everyone else learns the advantages and disadvantages of allgorithm-predicted answers in our daily lives. But there is one place in your development department where AI does not belong.
Philanthropy is a longer-term option for making gifts to help people in need over multiple years’ time while charity focuses on immediate relief to the needy.
I’ve been fortunate to have had a long and varied career in philanthropy. And over the last 20-plus years, I’ve noticed five recurring, consistent themes that, for me, sum up what philanthropy is all about.
One of the cleverest recent developments in planned giving are online solutions allowing donors to create their own will, at little cost and with no legal intervention. Is this a good idea? What are the advantages (or disadvantages) for nonprofits and development pros?
I have experienced many rewarding moments among top philanthropic donors and nonprofit leaders. If you are reading this article, you likely fit within one or both of these populations and understand that, as Winston Churchill once said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
We’re asked this question often. And since marketing is such a complex field, the answer can certainly be complex. In fact, the definition of success is subjective – and sometimes it is all over the place. But as you know, I believe in not just simplifying, but oversimplifying. So I’m going to answer in trademark PlannedGiving.Com fashion and break it down into basics.
Pastors have a captive audience every Sunday. I can think of more than one fundraiser who’d probably be willing to commit a mortal sin for that kind of setup!
In anticipation of this great construction project, King David accumulated immense quantities of gold, silver, bronze, precious stones and exotic woods. Then, knowing he was serving a higher power, he bequeathed those assets to his son Solomon, along with God’s instructions for the design of the temple. (Even in Biblical times, donors were particular about how their planned gifts could be used ...)
Thousands of other Americans don’t have a will. Meet with an estate planning attorney, or use our LegacyPlanner™ for free to create a simple, legal will that’s valid in all 50 states.
Making Estate Planning Accessible, Simple, Personal, Secure and FREE!
Bequests are up, cash is down. Empower your donors to plan their will and invest their legacy in the cause they support the most.
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