I’m not even sure I should be doing this. And that’s part of the problem. You see, while it’s not at all hard for me to talk about diversity and inclusion, I do find it Read more…
We used to run into each other at fundraising conferences and events, but it had been a while since we had met. When I called her and suggested catching up over lunch, I was hoping Read more…
Pratfall is a term coined by psychologist Elliot Aronson to describe the bias of how your attractiveness to someone or something increases or decreases after making a blunder or a mistake (or a pratfall). The impact Read more…
Fundraising is by no means an easy task! Charities of all sizes constantly strive to increase the amount of annual donations, and raise awareness about their cause. And now, peer-to-peer fundraising is helping nonprofits towards Read more…
The social-profit sector needs fundraisers to dive in to a digital way of living and thinking more than ever. And in 2016 if you aren’t, you’re going to get left behind. Here’s 3 reasons why Read more…
Please turn yourself into your Grandmother. This might be hard if she is no longer with us. I only met one of my Grandmothers and she was run over and killed by a Rolls Royce Read more…
Apparently if you put a frog in a pot of boiling water it will jump out. Yet put a frog in a pot of water and gradually heat it up the frog will not jump out Read more…
‘Two weeks of my time, completely wasted!’ The frustration was evident on the face of the corporate fundraiser. She had been telling me she had known from the start that the partnership she’d been told Read more…
Propelling your organization to double-digit growth, exponential mission impact, and leadership in your movement, there are only a few strategies that consistently make the grade. Focus on major gifts from all sources Make individual giving Read more…
“Show a people as one thing, over and over again, and that is what they become”, said author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her thought-provoking TED talk on the danger of telling a single story. She Read more…
Having trouble framing the right case for support for specific donors? Do all your proposals address roughly the same issues? Are all your proposals aimed at roughly the same target group? Are you looking to Read more…
I live and work in Vancouver BC. It’s a short, two hour flight from San Francisco and the Silicon Valley. Vancouver is experiencing a tech boom right now. Start-ups are everywhere you turn – they Read more…
Those responsible for the governance of non-profits are often our worst enemies when they could be our best friends. (I am referring to volunteer leaders) Let me quote a poem from a great British poet Read more…
Reading Ken Burnett’s post on reciprocity left me, as most discussion on the subject do, with an awkward feeling about how this very familiar issue keeps popping up. I can’t say I answered requests for Read more…
We all know what we want from companies, right? Cash, lots of it, for our fabulous and vital work. And because just about every charity in the world (apart from the likes of Greenpeace who are too pure to sully themselves in this way…) is wanting corporate $$, we charities scrap like very scrappy things to secure the dosh for our cause.
Which often leads to disappointment. Corporate cash giving is actually pretty small whichever way you measure it. Whether as a proportion of corporate revenues, profits or charity total income, donations from companies are really not that significant. Few companies give away as much as 1% of their post tax profits and the majority give much less than this. (more…)
How many Fundraising Directors of national charities that have international programmes have been challenged by their CEO or board member to go out and raise funds in countries where their non-profit spends its money? How Read more…
Seven Scarily-common Mistakes that Harm your Chances of Winning Valuable Partnerships
When several years ago, Alix Wooding and her then team at Alzheimer’s Society won the partnership (worth £7.5 million) with UK retailer Tesco, it was the second time her charity had won the Tesco partnership in a decade. For the same charity to be selected again so soon was unprecedented. And it was not through luck.
Though the pitch included some fabulous touches, more importantly, they did not make the fundamental errors of pitch design that happen in 95% of corporate fundraising pitches.
I’ve spent 14 years as a fundraiser, pitch coach and trainer to fundraisers. And after conducting interviews with some of the most successful pitchers on the planet, I have noticed fascinating patterns in how the regular winners approach pitch design. Their habits are different from those who work hard but usually fail to get through. (more…)
In the UK 2014 maybe the year that we finally come out of recession, but like all economic changes it will take at least two years truly to filter through to fundraising results and impacts. Read more…
I was sat in Hyde Park the other day reading through the feedback notes from a fundraising development day I had recently, when I came across a note I had scribbled in the margins of Read more…
The New Lexicon of Fundraising Part 8 “Love is friendship caught on fire.” Northern Exposure One of the core lessons of leadership and management is that people can only take so much change. So, on Read more…
I’m tired of hearing about the ‘economic crisis’ as a reason for not achieving fundraising targets. It’s what it is. It’s the new normal.
The charities that are achieving and exceeding targets today are the ones that accept this new normal and are responding to the needs of their supporters.
This is especially true in corporate partnerships. Companies no longer have budgets for making donations to charities in the same way that they did 5 or ten years ago. Their world has changed. They have to work smarter and leaner. (more…)
“How are we going to bring in more money? Let’s get creative, folks!”
Employees at nonprofit organizations of varying shapes and sizes have heard this from upper management in one way or another. There are only so many sources of fundraising revenue, and traditional foundation grants, corporate grants, and annual appeals can become stale very quickly. (more…)
Today is the 67th Independence Day of India. Such milestones are good time to reflect on the past and forecast the way forward. Hence I will focus on fundraising insights from India, one of the countries that are generating tremendous fundraising interest globally. These reflections are based on my ‘on-the-ground’ experiences working with non-profit leaders, fundraisers, corporate decision makers as well as donors and philanthropist in India and across Asia. (more…)
Corporate funding is a hot potato within many NGO’s: lively debates filled with emotion. But how do you judge the (valid) sensitivities and define whether or not corporate support may harm your charity in any Read more…
One week before I had my first day at work at the Cancer Center Amsterdam of VUmc in April this year, my new colleague mailed me with very good news: TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) was Read more…
