When our boys were younger, I wanted them to see how much we were giving to our church. I wanted to model cheerful generosity, and to demonstrate that this was normal and very intentional. If the truth be told, IRead more…
U.S. Foundation Funding for Africa: 2015 Edition
U.S. foundations made grants totaling nearly $1.5 billion focused on Africa in 2012. This represented 25 percent of foundations’ international giving, up from 14 percent in 2002. Produced by Foundation Center in cooperation with Africa Grantmakers’ Affinity Group, this first-everRead more…
Top 10 Tips to Catapult Your Major Gift Fundraising
Here’s a special list of my FAVORITE ideas, tips and strategies that I’ve developed over 30 years in fundraising. It’s some of my best wisdom. Some of these ideas are short-cuts. Some are out-of-the-box. And some are my magic keysRead more…
Giving Days Playbook: New approaches to short-term fundraising
Nonprofits need to use a variety of fundraising tools to achieve their fundraising goals. Read more about the giving days ideas and tools proving to be most effective including: Top giving-day strategies that are paying off for other nonprofits BestRead more…
How to Recruit a VIP Volunteer Who Will Close Major Gifts and Make Their Own Gift Too
VIP Volunteers are essential ingredients to many major gifts efforts and capital campaigns. We need these individuals for their networks and connections – and access to large donors that we can’t reach. But they are difficult to enlist! Here is aRead more…
5 Steps to Kingdom-Focused Excellence
Today I have outlined 5 steps to kingdom-focused excellence. I am often asked, “How do you measure excellence in a Christ-centered ministry?” This list is in response to that question and will ensure you are leading your ministry down theRead more…
Using Guilt in Fundraising
Excerpted from How to Turn Your Words Into Money It was bad enough that I thought throwing a dirt clod at Kevin would be fun. But I made it worse. A group of us were throwing rocks down a hillside, aimingRead more…
A Mistake-Proof Capital Campaign Checklist
Smart capital campaign planning is like stacking dominoes. You take the time to carefully and strategically line them up. Then once the campaign begins, they all drop one after the other in perfect sequence. So if you’re planning aRead more…
Step-by-Step Checklist to Plan a Successful Capital Campaign
Step-by-Step Checklist to Plan a Successful Capital Campaign Every successful capital campaign has several phases with specific strategies for each one. If you go step-by-step through the correct sequence of each phase, you’ll set up your campaign so it’s mostRead more…
5 Ways Board Members Can Raise Money
There are many ways board members can help in fundraising. Today I am exploring five easy ways that trustees can help impact the bottom line. We have to remember that most board members are naturally hesitant about fundraising. After all,Read more…