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Nonprofit organization Tag

Customer Success Manager at Blackbaud Canada

21 Jan

Posted at 01:45h in Blog, Fundraising, Inspirational by
  1. Happiness w iPodBuild a fundraising plan – review your plan weekly and quarterly.
  2. Use Monday as your launch day for the week – build a weekly to-do list and block off time to complete your tasks.
  3. Drink more water – you’ll have to go to the bathroom and take a break from your computer.
  4. Leave 20% of your weekly calendar free. You’ll have time to fight the fires when they happen.
  5. Talk to your boss – meeting formally or informally once a week will make sure you’re on the same page with priorities.
  6. Focus your time on activities that are directly related to bringing money in – donors, grant applications, major gift conversations, appeal letters are great examples.
  7. Break large tasks (like build communications plan for appeal letters) into smaller, achievable tasks.
  8. Job shadow a programming staff person each quarter – You’ll not only build trust with your team, you’ll also be able to gather your own stories to share with donors.
  9. Book holidays. And take them.

06 Jan

Posted at 21:53h in Blog, Fundraising by
Case for SupportIt’s the cornerstone of any (and I mean ANY) Fundraising Campaign. The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Dictionary defines a case for support as:

 “The reasons why an organization both needs and merits philanthropic support, usually by outlining the organization’s programs, current needs, and plans.”

What does a case for support do? It collects in one place all the materials you will need to raise money for your organization:
  • Why your organization exists and how you make a unique difference in this world;
  • Your mission and vision statements;
  • Challenges identified by the community that you serve, and how your programs/solutions solve this problem;
  • Areas of greatest need and their associated fundraising goals;
  • The people on your Fundraising Team;
  • What will be different when your fundraising goals are met;
  • Different ways that a donor can support your organization;

01 Dec

Posted at 16:47h in Blog, Uncategorised by
This post was originally prepared for as session at Ottawa Festivals 2015 PitchFest sandboxRemember your days in elementary school? You learned those all-important life lessons like: raise your hand when you have something to say, always put the lid on your glue stick, and remember to give everyone in your class a valentine? Great collaboration starts from the basic rules of elementary school.  We need to play nicely in the sandbox with others. "Play nice in the sandbox" Gone are the days that not-for-profits can hide their heads in the sand and declare that they don’t need partners because “no one is playing in their space.”

26 Aug

Posted at 12:20h in Blog, Fundraising by
ticketsTales of a Not-for-profit Gala You know the drill: rule number one of the “big annual fundraiser” is to SELL SELL SELL. Tickets, that is. And that sure is what it feels like: your volunteers are selling tickets to get bums in seats, to make sure the room is full, to get those tickets out to the “general public” who will definitely be interested in your gala – I mean they’ve never heard of you before, but hey: now’s as good a time as any to get to know your organization, right? Wrong. Are you selling tickets, or engaging people to BUY tickets? If selling tickets feels like a chore have you really thought about who you are selling tickets to? It’s time to switch gears. 

27 May

Posted at 16:14h in Blog, Easy Does It by
stalled campaignYour fundraising plan is written, your volunteers have been trained and you are ready to go out to ask for a donation to solve an identified problem in your community. Everybody’s ready to go! Except nothing happens. It’s so quiet in your office that you can hear the crickets. Your phone isn’t ringing. It seems like your campaign has gone sideways…potentially into the ditch. Here are 10 practical tips for defibrillating your fundraising campaign back to life.

30 Mar

Posted at 20:41h in Blog, Uncategorised by
jenny and charlotteThis year I decided that my household was going to have great mornings. No more of this dragging kids out of bed. I wanted to change my habits because  I hated the way I started my day with all that stress and negativity. I stumbled upon a study that said that if you think positive thoughts you will be 19% more productive! Wow! I liked the sound of that. Now what did I have to do to make that happen?  The steps I took reminded me a lot of the mental commitment required to be a good fundraiser. Want to be more positive in your workplace? Here are the steps to make it happen.

1)      Think positive thoughts

21 Feb

Posted at 20:10h in Blog, Uncategorised by
jen laurette“Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.”  ~ William Bruce Cameron, Sociologist

Guest post by Jen Laurette, Associate Director, Development and Alumni Relations at  Queen's University

Let’s start with the None at All. For various reasons, some organizations avoid using performance metrics among their fundraisers and instead take an all-hands-on-deck approach to collectively reaching the organization’s overarching goals.  I have worked for organizations that employed this approach - whatever you raised was seen as a win. While this can feel great, the lack of direct accountability can lead to status quo becoming the norm.  While staff retention was strong and we functioned as a team, who’s to know how much we may have been leaving on the table. Let’s move to the Good in Theory.