How to Write a Grant Report That Sets Up Your Renewal
Your final grant report isn't the last step of this grant. It's the first page of your next request, so write it for the program officer who has to defend your renewal.
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The New Charitable Deduction: What to Tell Your Year-End Donors
Starting in 2026, donors who don't itemize can deduct cash gifts again. Here's how to mention it in your year-end appeal accurately and in the right spot.
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When Your Fundraiser Leaves, Do Your Donors Leave Too?
When your development director leaves, the donor relationships in their head can walk out the door too. Here's what to do before that day comes, and in the 30 days after.
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How to Set a Fundraising Goal Your Budget Didn’t Make Up
Most fundraising goals are just the hole left in the budget. Build yours from the bottom up, starting with the donors you already have, then have an honest conversation about the gap.
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Why Your Year-End Donors Disappear by March
Year-end first-time donors are some of the most promising donors you'll get all year, yet most never give again. The second gift is the hinge, and the first 90 days decide it.
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AI Can Draft Your Appeal. It Can’t Tell You What Your Donors Care About.
AI is good at producing words. It has no idea which words matter to your donors. Here's a workflow that keeps the knowing with you and hands the typing to the machine.
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If You Stopped Sending Your Newsletter, Would Anyone Notice?
If your newsletter quietly stopped arriving, how many donors would notice? Here's how to turn it from organizational news into a donor impact newsletter one person can produce every quarter.
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Your Gift Receipt May Be the Most-Read Letter You Send
The receipt is the one letter your donors are actually waiting for, and most read like a bank statement. The legal part takes three sentences. The rest of the page is yours to use.
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Five Year-End Jobs for Board Members That Don’t Involve Asking for Money
Most board members who resist fundraising are resisting the ask, not the work. Here are five year-end jobs, with a timeline and scripts, and none of them requires asking anyone for money.
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Donor-Advised Funds Are Growing. Can Your Donors Actually Give From Theirs?
Your DAF donors have already decided to give. The question is where. Here's how DAF gifts work from the donor's side, and the fixes a small development shop can make before December.
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