Should You Ask Your Volunteers for a Year-End Gift?
Many nonprofits leave volunteers out of the year-end appeal or send them the same letter as everyone else. Here's how to ask people who already give their time.
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Google Ad Grants Won’t Bring You Many Donors. Use It to Build Your List Instead.
Google Ad Grants rarely produces donations directly. Here's how to use your $10,000 a month to capture email subscribers who become donors later.
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Your Year-End Reply Card Is Doing More Work Than Your Letter
A donor can skip your year-end letter and still give, but they can't give by mail without the reply card. Here's how to make that small card easy to read, fill out, and send back.
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Only 1.6% of Website Visitors Donate. Here’s How to Keep the Rest.
Most people who visit your nonprofit's website leave without giving and never return. Here's how to turn your busiest pages into a steady source of new donors.
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Should You Pay Your Fundraiser on Commission?
Paying a fundraiser a percentage of what they raise looks risk-free for a small nonprofit, but it quietly moves the risk onto your donors and pays for the wrong part of the job. Here's why the model backfires and what to offer instead when money is tight.
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Gift Acceptance Policy for Small Nonprofits: A One-Page Version That Works
You don't need a university-sized gift acceptance policy. You need one page that helps you say yes quickly to the gifts you want and decline the rest without losing the donor.
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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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Should Your Small Nonprofit Even Do GivingTuesday?
GivingTuesday can bring in real money for a small nonprofit. It can also pull gifts forward from December 31 and wear out your staff. Here's how to decide whether it's right for your shop.
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