Not All Large Gifts Are Major Gifts: Part Two – Go-Away Money

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on November 15, 2011

Hoping that, between last Tuesday and today, you haven’t used the four illustrations of bad fundraising technique, we continue with the theme/intent of this three-part posting. Once in a while, the response to the cold Letter, the cold Call, the Invitation (out of the blue) or the Visit (not preceded by the appropriate education and […]

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Staying Visible To Your CFC Donors … And To Everyone Else

By Carter McNamara on November 10, 2011

While the Internet has not changed “everything,” it has changed how we shop, how we get directions, and most relevant to the CFC … and all nonprofit fundraising, it has changed where we get our news and information. And even though video is an increasingly important method of sharing information, the written word is how […]

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Not All Large Gifts Are Major Gifts: Part One – How Not To Go About It

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on November 8, 2011

In our definition, we suggest that, no matter its size, unless a gift met certain parameters, it wasn’t “major.” We emphasize the requirement that the process that obtained the gift had to be based on a plan/strategy that included face-to-face cultivation and solicitation components, and that the gift had to significantly help in attaining fundraising […]

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Prospecting for Foundation Gold

By Lynn deLearie on November 3, 2011

What does every prospector need to “hit the mother lode?” A good map!! And prospecting for foundation funding is no different. Here’s the good news: with a couple of key tools, you can create your own map to lead you to some very good sources of funding. The two that top my list are annual […]

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After The Campaign Is Over…

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on November 1, 2011

An email indicated that “Our capital campaign has concluded. We’ve reached our goal, but we still have some prospects that have not been met/solicited and we have identified additional capital needs. We’re also looking at creation of a major gifts program.” = = = = = = = = = = = = = If […]

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Government Grants: Stepping Back from the Keyboard!

By Jayme Sokolow on October 27, 2011

Clear/concise writing is an important component of the government grant proposal development process.  But, as John C. Lauderdale – the author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Government Contracts (2009) – points out, there are some tried and true maxims that you should follow to write well. Two of those maxims are: Proposal quality […]

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Nonprofit Boards: Directors vs Trustees

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on October 25, 2011

When I began my career in development, over 30 years ago, the certificate program that provided my initial training emphasized that Board Members of NPOs are Trustees, not Directors. The rationale was that, unlike a for-profit corporation where Directors could be compensated and often were involved with directing aspects of corporate operation, Board Members of […]

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FaceBooking Your Organization

By Rick Christ on October 20, 2011

The Usability of FaceBook “My organization’s website is static and boring, frankly. Our FaceBook page is updated all the time and very popular.” The Executive Director of a local nonprofit told me that. This local humane society has 1,214 friends on FaceBook. That’s 3.3% of the rural population of the county it serves! That’s equivalent […]

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Creating An Advisory Council

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on October 18, 2011

A recent email posed the question: I am the Director of Philanthropy for a small nonprofit foundation. Our Board of Directors and committees are all comprised of physicians. I am beginning to build a lay component and am working on developing a Development Advisory Council – made up of lay members. I am looking to […]

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In The Combined Federal Campaign, Little Things Mean a Lot

By Carter McNamara on October 13, 2011

Relationships Are Key. Those three words summarize all practical and academic research about fundraising. It takes a great deal of effort, thought, capability, energy, systems, and committed people to actually develop a sustainable, growing, and effective development program, but the idea that relationships are key is one that is at the root of all successful […]

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