Arielle Randle knows a thing or two about communicating in and through a crisis. Like so many nonprofit leaders, she cut her teeth on crisis response communications and fundraising during the...
Transforming a fundraising program
Matt Kahn is Director of Direct Marketing at the NRCC. I've had the pleasure and opportunity to get to know and partner with Matt over the last year, and see some...
Good data is essential for effective decision-making
Good decision-making requires good data. But most nonprofits never invest in the kind of tools that can allow them to capture and categorize their data to support better decision-making.
Do this one thing to integrate brand and fundraising effectively
If there's one person who "gets it" when it comes to the intersection of brand and fundraising, that's my friend Olga Woltman, Founder of Lemon Skies, and host of the...
The future of fundraising is relational
The idea that the future of fundraising is relational should not be revolutionary. In the world of major and mega gift fundraising, all of our work is relational. But for far too...
Leaders Must Learn Hard Lessons
A mentor of mine recently asked me, “What’s the hardest lesson you’ve had to learn in your career?” That question stopped me in my tracks. There are so many lessons...
Nonprofits Need a Better Way to Fundraise
https://youtu.be/LEwTJW5bNRY Nonprofits continue to struggle with fewer donors giving every year. The economy plays a part in that. But more than anything, our social contract with donors is broken. If...
Your Business Rules are Hurting Your Fundraising
https://youtu.be/2bfJx3F5IEc There are so many fantastic and talented fundraisers in our nonprofit sector. What frustrates so many of them is that organizations often have outdated budgeting processes and business rules...
Use failure to create future successes
I once sent 60,000 pieces of one nonprofit's direct mail to another nonprofit's audience by mistake. As the head of annual gift fundraising at a children's hospital I was an...
Healthy cultures create leverage
Culture is the most important leverage point for your organization’s growth. As a leader, if you embrace or simply allow toxic behavior to invade your culture, you’ll limit growth by...