by David Patterson | Jan 30, 2018 | Fundraising Readiness, Trustees & Volunteers |
The biggest fundraising problem facing smaller nonprofit organizations is board makeup. An organization’s board is its top level constituency—its first circle of community. A nonprofit’s community is comprised of concentric circles. Like the rings that ripple outward...
by Marcus Haile | May 4, 2017 | Development Team, Fundraising Readiness |
When setting up a new development shop or restructuring an existing one, the last thing you should be worrying about is—well—development! The modern development department succeeds not because an organization has had an epiphany about the need to raise money, but...
by Marcus Haile | Jan 14, 2017 | Fundraising Readiness |
Every fundraising opportunity has three categories of costs. One is obvious, the second is obscured by the opportunity itself, and the third is investment inherent in the structure of an organization. The first is always considered when deciding whether to pursue an...
by David Patterson | Dec 21, 2016 | Blog, Fundraising Readiness |
As we enter the final days of the Holiday giving season, a question occurs to me. It’s one all nonprofit development officers who expected this season to yield increased giving over last should ask themselves: Was I prepared? Come January it’s tempting to sit...
by David Patterson | Oct 3, 2016 | Fundraising Readiness |
A nonprofit organization’s mission statement should be its principal case for support—the main reason why anybody should ever consider donating to the organization. Every other statement a nonprofit makes about its good works past, present, or future should derive...
by Tony Poderis | May 11, 2007 | Fundraising Readiness |
What Do You Know About Your Donors and What Do They Know About Your Organization? If we’re going to ask people for money, it sure helps if they think highly of both our organization and its mission. Do they see our mission as vital and valid? Are we perceived as...