Meet the Blog’s Host
Hank Lewis with Development Consultant Associates has over thirty years as a fundraising consultant and is a specialist in Board and Leadership Development, Capital Campaign, Bequest Program and Major Gifts. [Read more ...]Fundraising: Planning
Separation of Church and Nonprofit
A reader wrote: Our non-profit, faith based social service agency is going to split from the identity/brand of the church, but continue under a new name and separate 501(c)(3) to offer the same programs and services. The only difference is that it would no longer be associated with the church or considered part of the [...]
Planning For Organizational Survival (Part 2 of 2)
A key problem for many new nonprofits is that most of their founders, that “small number of caring people who want to help,” have the impression that fundraising has to do with “fundraisers” — special events or sales: dinners, circuses, golf tournaments, T-shirts, cookies or candy. That couldn’t be farther from reality. While those activities [...]
Planning For Organizational Survival (Part 1 of 2)
Non-profit organizations (NPOs) exist to provide services that would not otherwise be available to many in the community. Too many NPOs fail to survive, however, because the people responsible for their creation aren’t fully aware of what it takes to effectively provide for the needs of the community. Non-profits are usually created by a relatively [...]
What Is A Development Plan
Someone asked, recently, about putting together a “fundraising plan.” My response was about creating a “Development Plan.” Where the latter has its focus on the relationships between the organization and its constituents/donors that can result in contributed income, the former just focuses on the dollars. And, when just focusing on dollars is sometimes OK for [...]
Evaluating Your Major Gifts Prospects
Too many people (NPO board members, volunteers and staff) believe that “Evaluation” means determining what a potential donor should give!! That couldn’t be more wrong. A formal evaluation process has two objectives: to identify a dollar amount that the prospective donor would be likely to be able to afford; and, to identify a (realistic) dollar [...]
How to Use The Gift Table
Gift Tables (also known as Gift Pyramids) are great fundraising tools for capital campaigns, major gifts fundraising, “fiscal year fundraising,” and even for major events. Starting with the basics: Prior to the beginning of every fiscal year, an NPO goes through its budgeting process and comes up with a (realistic, attainable) figure for how much [...]
Constructing The Gift Table
“Hank,” the email said, “can you send me a gift pyramid that my organization can use in preparing for a capital campaign.” My response leaned somewhat toward the academic…. Gift Tables and Pyramids are great fundraising tools, but their construction and usage are often very much misunderstood. They are most often associated with capital campaigns, [...]
Cultivating Major Donors
There are two categories of donor cultivation: the education about and the involvement in the programs/activities of the NPO … leading up to the solicitation and obtaining of the first major gift from non-donors; and, the ongoing education, involvement and recognition of prior donors leading up to their next major gift. But, before you can [...]
The Planning Study: (Part #3 of 3 – Implementation)
Considering the two major objectives in conducting the interviews, determination how/if a program/project/activity should be implemented and beginning the cultivation of those folks who could help make it happen, it is essential, as with all serious development activities, that those interviews be face-to-face. You can’t be taken very seriously and you can’t read body language [...]
The Planning Study: (Part #2 of 3 – Preparation)
The first step in the planning study process is determining what it is that you want the study to accomplish. Second is the creation of a list of those folks you’d like to interview – a list that can be as long as you’d like … as long as you’re realistic. No one goes on [...]
