Category: Sustainability

Opportunity and Growth
Sustainability
Viken Mikaelian

A Letter from Viken Mikaelian

To say that the last year-plus has presented challenges for the philanthropy world is the very definition of an understatement. Nonprofits across the country have been forced to close their doors. Others might not make it through 2021. Meanwhile, the need for nonprofits has risen sharply, driven by the pandemic, natural disasters, and a host of other challenges that seem, at times, never-ending.

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Discouraging-Donors
Sustainability
Viken Mikaelian

Top Ten Mistakes that Discourage Donors

As fundraising professionals, we often make mistakes that discourage donors, instead of encourage them. Don’t do that! Instead, inspire and engage them. Here’s how!

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Steps to Establish a Planned Giving Program
Planned Giving Marketing
Viken Mikaelian

Steps to Establish a Planned Giving Program (or… the Kid With the Kite!)

It’s true — a kid with a kite! There’s a lesson that fundraisers can learn from the history of Niagara Falls — specifically, about a suspension bridge that, from 1855 to 1897, connected the United States to Canada over the roaring waters. This clearly shows how marketing is behind everything. (And, in a roundabout way, the steps you need to take to establish a planned giving program!)

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My Apple Tree
Self Improvement & Career
Viken Mikaelian

My Apple Tree

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. ~ Martin Luther

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Planned Giving and the Church
Bequests
Viken Mikaelian

Planned Giving and the Church

The congregation sighs and settles in for what the pastor knows is actually their least favorite Sunday. “Please take a look at the insert in your bulletin,” he continues. “You’ll see that we didn’t meet our budget again this year.” His audience knows where this is going: The church is struggling to accomplish its mission, but the congregation is not pulling its weight in terms of monetary contributions.

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You Need a Planned Giving Program
Major Gifts
Viken Mikaelian

You Need a Planned Giving Program

If you’re not pursuing planned gifts, the nonprofit next door is. If they win the heart of your donors, your cash gifts will follow out the door, too.

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Planned Gifts Take Too Long!
Planned Giving Marketing
Viken Mikaelian

Planned Gifts Take Too Long!

Planned gifts are not always deferred. Some provide immediate cash, some come in sooner than you think, and here are a few tips to accelerate them.

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Small Nonprofits Should Enter the Planned Giving Game
New Opportunities
Viken Mikaelian

Planned Giving for Smaller Nonprofit: 10 Reasons

If you’re not going after planned gifts, the bigger fish next door is. And since planned gifts are gifts from the heart, they inspire more cash gifts, too. This means, if the nonprofit next door wins your planned gifts, your cash gifts will walk out the door, too.

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How to Be Massively Productive
Effective fundraising
Brent Hafele

How to Be Massively Productive

What is the single biggest excuse people use to not do things they say they want to do? Wait for it… (No pun intended.) “I don’t have time.” We’re about to blow that excuse away.

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