Churn is the enemy. We've all seen the grim donor retention stats from AFP’s 2013 report. Working hard to acquire donors and then losing them a year later is frustrating – and costly. At a previous stop on my fundraising journey, I worked for a small school that had a churn problem, particularly with alumni giving. We were at 60% retention. And we knew that, as a private liberal arts college, we should be doing better. All our peers were. … [Read more...] about How We Boosted Donor Retention to 71%
The Donor Pyramid Debate
The donor pyramid has found itself in the middle of some heated debate these days. Check this out: R.I.P. Donor Pyramid? http://t.co/lxRikqrFID #fundraising — Claire Axelrad (@CharityClairity) June 6, 2014 Is The Donor Pyramid Really Dead? An Open Letter to Claire Axelrad from Andrea Kihlstedt http://t.co/YbQ5qDa8Qn via @GuideStarUSA — Andrea Kihlstedt (@AndreaKihlstedt) June 25, 2014 Yes, The Donor Pyramid is Really Dead … [Read more...] about The Donor Pyramid Debate
Fearless Outreach
I love visiting with potential donors. Breakfast, lunch, drinks, dinner, their office, their house, the club, their boat (true story), doesn’t matter. My happy place is out of my office. And my nightmare is a visitless week spent at my desk. Or in meetings. But, for as much as I like being out, seeing people, I don’t always like asking for visits. Makes sense, right? Fundraising is a lot like dating. And asking someone out (especially … [Read more...] about Fearless Outreach
Small Talk Epilogue: Practice Makes Perfect
Think about something you’re really good at. Chances are you’re not an expert because you read a book about it. Or a blog post for that matter! We learn by doing. Trial and error. Testing. Practice. The same applies to small talk. Practice is the only way to get better. To bring our series on small talk for fundraisers to a close, here are a few easy ideas for practicing some of the things we've covered: … [Read more...] about Small Talk Epilogue: Practice Makes Perfect
Fundraising: What’s it About?
I joined twitter this week. Five or so years late to the party, I know. Seriously though, check me out here. One of the first tweets to pop up in my feed was this one from a consultant I really respect: #Fundraising is emphatically NOT about money. Do you agree?? http://t.co/YXhHv6uHxT — Gail Perry (@GailPerrync) June 9, 2014 OK, I’ll bite. Fundraising not about money! What!?!? I thought, “Wait a minute; something about this … [Read more...] about Fundraising: What’s it About?