Fundraising Guru

Planned Giving

Below you will find all of our past articles to help you with your planned giving. It is a long list of articles so don't hesitate to bookmark this page and come back often. If you would like more great fundraising information in the future then please sign up for an email notification whenever we publish a new article.

Raising Planned Gifts by Mail

Despite the lack of confidence we sometimes feel about direct mail’s efficacy, the fact remains - it works. Maybe one day this will change - perhaps the Internet will come into its own as a fundraising medium. But for now, raising planned gifts by mail is a solid and revenue-producing strategy.
However, unlike holiday greetings and change of address notifications, your planned giving mailings can’t be showered on the general population. Direct marketers often cite the 60-30-10 formula for determining a mailing’s success.

Beware Publicity When Raising Big Gifts

Don't expect publicity to raise money. It doesn't, at least most of the time.
The reasons are simple. To raise substantial money you must ask people in person, regardless of any well-placed stories. Secondly, most campaigns depend on a relatively small number of major donors - about 10 percent of the prospects - whose decision to give won't be much influenced by the media.
In fact, since it can be effective to solicit top prospects before your campaign goes public - in effect treating these special few as insiders - publicity in the early stages can actually work against you.

Debt Elimination Fundraising Campaigns

How can your organization raise the money it needs to pay off:
money borrowed from a lending institution? unpaid invoices from vendors, suppliers, and contractors for the purchase of a capital asset? Accentuate the Positive

When Should a Non-Profit Organization Hire its First Development Director? Part 1

The short answer is sooner rather than later! If a non-profit organization is beginning to ask whether it needs a professional development director, it probably should have hired one months, even years ago.
The biggest mistake non-profits make in hiring their first development director is waiting until the board, executive director, and other key personnel have arrived at a consensus that one is needed NOW. An organization that waits until it is necessary to hire a development director has waited too long.

When Should a Non-Profit Organization Hire its First Development Director? Part 2

So, how do you know from within an organization when and if you should hire a development director? The answer is simple, and it starts with knowing the costs of running the organization as it carries out its mission as set out in the its long-range strategic plan. It continues with the development of a fund-raising plan. mmit to their responsibility to see that the money is raised. Then an assessment of resources is needed to see if the tools are present or can be developed to carry out the plans.

Online Donations - Strategy or Website Coinbox?

I recently reviewed a random sample of 75 websites of nonprofit organizations. I looked specifically at their strategy for online donations. Here is what we found:

Income Base

A major consideration of a fundraising group is to know who and what is their income base. All companies need to know where they will make their money so they can develop strategies to maximise this vital resource. If you don't understand this then you will have tough times raising the funds you need. Once you understand that fundraising is exactly like running a business then you will understand that copying what businesses do will benefit you greatly.
For grassroots' or small community fundraisers there are four main levels or areas to address:

Electronic Transfer

One of the hardest parts of fundraising is collecting the monies owed during the year, wouldn't it be nice to collect in way that was easy, time saving and someone else does most of the work? Well, this may be just what you are looking for.
Nowadays the ability to move money around electronically is amazingly simple and simply amazing. So simple in fact that there must be an opportunity for charities and fundraising to benefit somehow and there is. All banks and societies offer electronic banking, that is you sign an authority for them to pay your bills for you, or for your work to automatically transfer your wage into your bank account.

Sponsorships

Here is a short list of principles you should keep in mind when seeking or negotiating a sponsorship. Don't just try the obvious list of sponsors, get original! As long as you have something to offer - ask!

Managing Fundraising Efforts

Fundraising does take significant energy and effort. (Some people call this concept WORK.)
Different fundraising programs will need different levels and types of energy and effort, so you will need to compare your organization's resources with what will be required of a potential fundraising program.

Money Making Booths for Summer Fairs

Sometimes you need to do a fundraiser, but you don't need all the hassle of throwing an event yourself. That's where the concept of piggy backing a fundraiser on a larger more successful event can work wonders. One such opportunity is a booth at a summer fair.

Fundraising Idea of the Month: Don't Come Events

Do you ever feel that at times you would rather not go to that function? You feel that you would rather stay at home, grab a quiet night and help out a really good cause by doing so? Then the Don't Come Event is something that you should seriously consider using as a fundraising event.