individuals
Why I’m Not a Fan of Welcome Packs
‘Hate’ would be too strong a word. I really just think we can all do so much better. I know every charity that sends a welcome pack to new donors has the best of intentions. Read more…
corporate
Trustees/Board Members: Best friends or worst enemies?
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…
Latest posts
How to grow fundraising leaders
Who would be a leader? Rarely worshipped nowadays, often reviled. Unable to live up to expectations or confirming people’s negative impressions. The weight of the world on your shoulders but often dependent on others. First Read more…
career
The Victories and Challenges of Small Shop Fundraising
I have worked for a few “small shops” in my career. Each organization had its own quirky, wonderful, and bizarre challenges and victories. I worked for a theatre in a building so old that the Read more…
acquisition
Solidarity, Ubuntu & iPads: canvassing in South Africa
South Africa. A beautiful, complicated country that’s only recently emerged from a very difficult past. In terms of fundraising, it’s considered an emerging market. From the story and webinar below, I hope fundraisers around the Read more…
acquisition
Are You Addicted to Acquisition (AA)?
“Hi, I am fundraiser and I’m addicted to acquisition.” Dear fundraiser, let’s start our day by admitting our addiction. We’re all obsessed with the idea of “new”: our new fundraising campaign, testing crowd-funding, creating best Read more…
Latest posts
How to reduce attrition 50% by doing (almost) nothing
This is how my daughter plays hide and seek. She thinks if she can’t see me then I can’t see her. In defence of her strategy she’s only two years old. But isn’t this exactly Read more…
campaigns
Why use the ‘WHY’ in 2015?
Have you heard about the ‘why’? And why it’s so important to find the ‘why’ of your organization in order to raise more money? I guess you do. You’ve probably read about it in books, Read more…
acquisition
Do you notice when you are being nudged?
Every year a collection of new or recycled buzzwords arrive on the fundraising circuit. Last year they were ‘behavioural economics’, ‘neuroscience’, ‘nudging’ and ‘decision science’. All the conference sessions with these words in the title Read more…
communication
Does being donor-focused have to mean giving donors choice?
Give donors more choice over where their money goes. It sounds like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? If we want to be supporter-focused, and help them feel genuinely close to the mission, why wouldn’t we let Read more…
high value donors
Making and KEEPING Major Gift (and Personal) New Year’s Resolutions
I do it every year. Think about what I want to do differently in the months ahead. Lose weight. Exercise more. Learn a language. Be a more effective manager. Listen. January finds me strong and Read more…
101fundraising
2014 overview: The 50 best blog posts!
Happy new year! We hope you have a terrific 2015! And we wish you health, happiness and heaps of fundraising success! Before we share the Top 50 best blog posts of 2014, let’s have a brief Read more…
101fundraising
Simply the Best: Top 10 blog posts! (Q4 2014)
The year comes to an end and we’re all in the holiday spirit! Time for one more Top 10… (BTW: next week we’ll publish our annual overview with the Best Blog Posts of 2014.) Before we look Read more…
communication
The Ghost of Christmas Future
Think back to Christmas when you were a kid. What did that look like? How did you celebrate? How much of your Christmas shopping was done online? How many relatives did you Skype with on Read more…
Latest posts
The Ghost of Christmas Present
The biggest story around the Western World in December, is not the pleasure of the build up to Christmas, the expectation of connecting with family and friends or the joy of giving and being part Read more…
campaigns
The Ghosts of Christmas Past are a Fundraiser’s Best Friends
Christmas is the time when fundraisers get excited about the sound of a man or woman trudging through the snow struggling under the weight of a sack full of gifts. Only for us, it’s the Read more…
database
4th Annual Fundraising Growth Analysis
Oops, I did it again. Like previous years I sliced and diced the Central Bureau of Fundraising (CBF) annual figures into some sort of growth analysis for the Dutch market. Perhaps I should not repeat the methodology Read more…
governance
The Annual Lectures 2014: Highlights and Recurring Themes
With 2014 drawing to a close, for many of us thoughts turn to what 2015 has in store. It’s an ideal time to get inspiration from some of the fundraising industry’s brightest brains. And what Read more…
human resources
The brilliant, quirky fundraising career of Professor Denny Young
Our 101fundraising community has lately been blogging and talking a lot about fundraising leadership: the emerging and the stale, the breathtaking and the reprehensible. I now want to pivot the conversation from managing up to Read more…
governance
How to get your director to love you
Let’s presume you have this great innovative idea for recruiting new donors and there is just one hurdle to overcome: a ‘final go’ on the extra budget from your director or management team. For some Read more…
101fundraising
How Philanthropic are Fundraisers?
“How can I ask others to give to a cause I believe in, if I do not give to it myself?” responded one fundraiser. I give “to support the mission and to be a role Read more…
high value donors
December “Glass Balls” for Major Gift Teams
We all have to juggle responsibilities. News commentator Leslie Stahl admonishes us to identify our glass balls, those tasks that we cannot drop under any circumstances. When those balls shatter, the consequences are either dire, Read more…
governance
Give or get out…of the profession that is!
I used to love the titles given to the IFC opening and closing CEO speeches at the IFC by my hero and fundraising guru and friend, George Smith. They were simply “Rant 1” and “Rant Read more…
communication
Is working out your brand positioning and your brand’s target audience a waste of time?
Well, there’s a provocative question or two. But I’d suggest the answer is yes, it probably is. It all started with a throw-away comment from a client, that a year after working out their ideal Read more…
book review
The Call for Leaders
I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership lately. Why’s that? Because, after four years of becoming pretty darn good at what I do, 2015 will bring with it the next big learning – in a Read more…