Category
Beginner
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Why Your Best Prospects Already Know You (And How to Stop Chasing Strangers)
Small nonprofits waste time pursuing cold prospects while warm ones wait to be asked. Your best donors aren't wealthy strangers waiting to be discovered. They're people already connected to your mission. Here's how to stop chasing and start cultivating.
The 50-Name Exercise: How to Build Your First Prospect List in One Hour
You already know your first donors. They're not wealthy strangers waiting to be discovered. They're people in your existing network who care about your mission. This one-hour exercise will help you identify 50 real prospects you can actually contact.
From Mission Statement to Case for Support: Why They're Different and How to Build Both
Every nonprofit has a mission statement. Not every nonprofit has a case for support. They're different tools for different purposes. Confusing them creates problems in fundraising. Here's how to build both, starting with what you already have.
Case for Support Audit: 5 Questions to Test Whether Your Case Actually Works
You have a case for support. But is it actually compelling? These five tough questions reveal whether your case is ready to raise money or needs serious revision. Be honest with yourself. Your fundraising depends on it.
The 60-Second Case: How to Explain Your Nonprofit When Someone Asks "What Do You Do?"
Someone asks what your nonprofit does. You stumble through a rambling explanation and watch their eyes glaze over. Here's a simple formula for a 60-second response that makes people actually care: Problem, Solution, Transformation.
Story Crimes: 7 Mistakes That Kill Your Fundraising Stories (And How to Fix Them)
Your fundraising stories might be working against you. Leading with statistics, hiding behind jargon, making your organization the hero. Here are seven story crimes that drain power from your appeals, and exactly how to fix each one.
The Story You're Afraid to Tell: When Imperfect Outcomes Make Better Fundraising
Not every story ends with a job, a graduation, or a life turned around. Some of your best fundraising stories might be the ones without tidy endings. Here's why imperfect outcomes can build more trust than polished success stories.
Before and After: How to Transform a Weak Story into a Fundraising Powerhouse
Most nonprofit stories fail not because the material is bad, but because they're told wrong. Here's how to take a weak story and make it powerful, with before-and-after examples showing exactly what to change.
The 10-Minute Story Interview: How to Collect Powerful Stories from the People You Serve
You need stories to raise money, but the people who have them are busy serving clients. Here's a simple four-question framework to collect a powerful story in just 10 minutes. Anyone can do it, and it works every time.
The 15-Minute Partnership: How to Build Donor Relationships When You Have No Time
You know you should build deeper donor relationships. But you're already stretched thin. Here's the truth: partnership doesn't require hours. It requires minutes, used with intention. A 2-minute call, a 5-minute email, a 3-minute note. Small touches, done consistently, transform how donors experience you.
What Donors Wish You Knew: Insights from the Other Side of the Relationship
You spend a lot of time thinking about what you need from donors. But have you considered what donors need from you? Here's what donors actually wish you understood about being on the other side of the relationship.
Beyond the Transaction: 12 Ways to Treat Donors Like Partners (Not Piggy Banks)
You know donors should be partners. But what does that actually look like? Here are 12 specific behaviors that transform how donors experience your organization. None require a big budget. All require intention.
The Partner Test: 10 Questions to Audit Your Donor Relationships
Every nonprofit claims to value donor relationships. But claims are easy. Behavior is what counts. These 10 questions reveal whether you're actually treating donors as partners or just saying you do. Take the audit and find out where the gaps are.
Why Your Donors Stopped Giving (It's Probably Not What You Think)
A donor gave three years in a row. Then they stopped. You assume they lost interest or hit hard times. But the real reason is simpler: they didn't feel like their gift mattered. Here are the actual reasons donors lapse and what you can do about it.