March, 2014

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Donor Research: 7 Tools for Creating a Prospect Profile

Fundraising Coach

'One of the most enjoyable aspects of major gift fundraising is getting to build relationships with donors. But often nonprofits squander the opportunities given to them by not doing any research. A Word of Caution. Before we get started, a word of warning: the goal of research isn''t to snoop. We''re only going to look at publicly available information, but it can still feel intrusive.

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7 Unique Fundraising Tools for Nonprofits

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'In Mobile for Good: A How-To Fundraising Guide for Nonprofits , a 40-hour work for a new media manager is outlined with five hours allotted weekly to experimenting with new online and mobile fundraising tools. The seven listed below are just the tip of the iceberg – and most of them are still in beta. Having just celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the World Wide Web , the nonprofit sector now has a wide array of amazing new fundraising tools at our fingertips that we couldn’t have imagine

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Trending Sources

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Agitator Announces Dating Service For Fundraisers

The Agitator

'In a move aimed at demonstrating The Agitator’s commitment to relationship building and better serving our readers, our Executive Management Board today announced the launch of a worldwide dating and match-making service designed exclusively for fundraisers. The Board announcement read in part: “Too many fundraisers have no love life. Too often we’ve seen that look of lonely desperation on their faces in the corridors of fundraising conferences.

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Top 6 donor communication mistakes to avoid

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'According to the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ Fundraising Effectiveness Survey Report , 105% of donors gained by nonprofits were offset by lapsed donors. Let that sink in for a minute: for every 100 new donors that came through the door, 105 walked out. Not exactly the growth most nonprofits are looking for. One of the best ways to improve your donor churn rate is to improve your donor communications.

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5-Star Storytelling Success Story

Getting Attention

'Guest blogger, Julie Brown, Program Director at the Findlay-Hancock County Community Foundation. Julie is intrigued by storytelling, and the opportunity it offers to inspire donors and volunteers to act. Barely a year ago, one of my co-workers, Lisa Houck, and I were happy to spend a day together at a Nancy Schwartz training called “How to Tell Five-Star Stories.

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Turn Tech Leaders Into Top Donors: How to Court the Internet Elite

Mission Minded

'Has your board ever made the helpful suggestion that you should be getting large gifts for your nonprofit from the millionaires of Silicon Valley? We recently discussed the subject of how to effectively court the internet elite with some Bay Area nonprofit executives keen to zero in on this topic. The centerpiece of the discussion […].

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[Guest Post] Correctly setting up your nonprofit's Google+ Community

Fundraising Coach

'A few months after I wrote the book Google+ for Nonprofits , Google+ released a new feature called "Communities." In the time since the introduction, have become a great tool for interacting on Google+, both in raising awareness and in interacting with supporters. As a Google+ user--whether personal profile or organization page--when you share with the people in your circles, it''s a broadcast.

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Nonprofit Video Awards Announced

The Agitator

'The 2014 DoGooder Video Awards have just been announced. For the eighth year, See3, YouTube, NTEN and Cisco, now joined by The National Alliance for Media and Culture and the National Youth Media Network have combined to select the best of nonprofit videos. Each of the winning videos can be viewed here. Here are the winners: Best of Nonprofit Video Award: “Right By You” by Partners for Mental Health.

Culture 104
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How to Connect with a New Generation of Donors and Volunteers

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'The Millennial generation—those 80 million folks born roughly between 1979-99—may not be your organization’s largest contributors today, but these “digital natives” are poised to receive the largest transfer of wealth from their Baby Boomer and Greatest Generation parents and grandparents. Nearly $41 trillion is expected to flow from one generation to the next in the decades to come.

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Connect as Powerfully as Lupita Nyongo’o: Messages Matter @ Oscars & Nonprofits

Getting Attention

'Take 3 minutes to listen to this incredible speech. Relevance rules at the Oscars too. That was reinforced big time in this fantastically-moving acceptance speech by Lupita Nyongo’o (Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave ) AND in the massive media coverage of her speech from the moment it started. Journalists, bloggers and others were clearly as moved as I was by this motivating and memorable 3-minute speech.

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Introducing “ENGAGEMENT FUNDRAISING”— the future of marketing for nonprofits.

iMarketSmart

'My mission is simple: I want to exponentially increase the revenues that nonprofits secure while dramatically reducing the cost of obtaining those revenues. Increase revenues. Drive down costs. How? With “engagement fundraising”— a phrase I coined about a year ago. What the heck is engagement fundraising? First, engagement is the act of engaging or the state of being engaged.

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Are you using that all wrong?

Fundraising Coach

'Sometimes, we get so used to using something, we don''t realize we''re using it the wrong way. Here are three tools that nonprofits use all the time. And many use the wrong way. Common uses and a better way. Donor Database. Common use: Recording gifts and keeping addresses. If this is all you''re using your donor database for, you''re using it wrong.

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11 Nonprofit Professionals Share Social Media and Technology Advice for Nonprofits via Instagram Video

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'Thanks to a partnership with the Public Interest Registry , Heather Mansfield of Nonprofit Tech for Good was able to report live from the Nonprofit Technology Conference ( #14NTC ) last week in Washington, DC. Empowered with a tablet and smartphone, one of Heather’s first priorities was to reveal the faces and expertise behind some our favorite nonprofit brands.

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The Fundraisers’ Lemniscate

The Agitator

'There’s no way fundraisers can achieve a brighter future by repeating the same tactics, recycling the same thinking again and again. Tactics and thinking that clearly no longer work the way they did a generation ago. You know the signs: falling acquisition rates, lousy retention, diminishing donor value and commitment. Different times require different thoughts, different theories and different practices.

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The 6 Most Important Steps for Nonprofit Branding

Mission Minded

'We strongly believe that great branding takes time—both time to clarify and develop a clear brand positioning, as well as the time to build recognition for your brand. Yet, we also understand the realities of working in a nonprofit environment. You’re pressed for time, for staff resources, and for money. With so many competing priorities, […].

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Empathy Map Your Way to Relevant Messages

Getting Attention

'Our newest guest blogger, Rob Wu is CEO of CauseVox, a nonprofit crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising platform for nonprofits. . You know it, and I know it. Connecting with your audience is harder than ever. And that means more of your org’s messages than ever before are ignored or deleted. So how do we cut through the noise? And how do we motivate donors to donate and supporters to take action?

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A Brilliant Stewardship Plan for Your Legacy Society Donors From Across the Pond

iMarketSmart

'There’s brilliance across the pond! Recently on my LinkedIn Group (Smart Planned Giving Marketers) , Sharon Wangman outlined a plan for stewarding Legacy Society members. Sharon said, “If your donors have included you in the Will you should visit; if you have bequest prospects you should visit. A person can easily take you out of the Will as quickly as they put you in.

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Yet another unassuming donor gives multi-million dollar gift

Fundraising Coach

'Today The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported about Lotta Fields. According to the New York Times , Ms. Fields was an avid reader and a regular donor to the New York Public Library. Her regular gifts were only described as "modest." But when she died, she left the library $6 million. $6 million! The NYT''s quotes the library president of being "astounded" when he heard of the bequest.

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Planning a fundraising event? Read this.

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'It’s event season! If you’re in the midst of hosting an event this spring, or are thinking of planning one for later this year, we’ve just released an updated edition of our fundraising events guide. From goal setting to following up with your attendees, we have you covered with 7 key steps to hosting a fabulous (and financially successful) event.

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Forecast Of 2014 Giving

The Agitator

'This week the Atlas of Giving released their most recent month-by-month giving forecast for 2014. They forecast that national giving is expected to grow 5.3% for the calendar year, and 4.3% for the next 12 months through January,2015. The Atlas tracks giving across all charitable sectors including higher education and religion. It then uses a series of econometric and propriety models to arrive at its forecast.

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Spring Webinar Special for Nonprofits

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'Nonprofit Tech for Good offers a series of social and mobile media webinars ideal for training social and mobile media managers, communications and fundraising staff, and volunteers and interns. Each webinar has an individual price of $50, but through June 21, 2014 they will be offered at the following discounted rates: Buy 2 Webinars, Get 1 Free :: 3 Webinars for $100.

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Nonprofit Media Relations—Not JUST Relationships

Getting Attention

'Guest blogger, Patricia Brooks guides client orgs to reach and motivate people through traditional and new media sources. She’s a 24/7 newshound and loves to match the right story with the right journalist. As a media relations expert, the question I’m most often asked is whether I have strong relationships with reporters. And many are taken aback when my response to that question is often a polite version of, “I can name drop until I am blue in the face, but that doesn’t mean that I can

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5 Online Donation Tools to Delight Your Donors

NonProfit Hub

'Online fundraising garners millions in charitable giving for the nonprofit industry every year, but there are so many options it can be difficult to find the right online donation tools for your organization. Here are some of our favorite online donation tools, with an emphasis on widgets and donate buttons. They are all both easy for donors to use and affordable for nonprofit fundraising at all levels. 1.

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Exclusive Code: Almost 20% to FundRaising Success' ENGAGE Conference

Fundraising Coach

'I''m thrilled to be speaking at FundRaising Success Magazine''s ENGAGE Conference on April 10 in Philadelphia. They''ve let me extend an exclusive offer of $75 off the registration to readers of my blog. Just use this code in the registration: MARCP75. Note: This MARCP75 code is only for people who work at nonprofits. One thing I love about ENGAGE is the high percentage of nonprofit staff that come.

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Reaching Across Generations

Ken Goldstein

'How are you involving millenials in your organization''s work? This is a question we''ve all been hearing a lot lately. But I''m not sure that I like some of the answers. I''ve been in several conversations and meetings in recent months where the idea of creating a "millenial advisory group" was brought up. It was generally agreed among my peers (those of us between 40 and 65) that the younger generation may not be ready for the responsibility of being on a board of directors.

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Discover Your Missing Middle

The Agitator

'‘Mid-level giving’ is an essential element in any fundraising program. Sadly, in practice it’s one of those buzzwords lots of fundraisers talk about, few understand and even fewer know how or where to begin. This is why a new study, The Missing: Neglecting Middle Donors Is Costing You Millions, released Sunday at the AFP is both welcome and long overdue.

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@NonprofitOrgs to Report Live from #14NTC

Nonprofit Tech for Good

'Through a partnership with the Public Internet Registry , Heather Mansfield of Nonprofit Tech for Good will be attending the Nonprofit Technology Conference ( #14NTC ) in order to report live and share the event in real-time with the @NonprofitOrgs community. The goals are: 1) To study how to report live effectively from a large scale, multiple day event using primarily Twitter , Instagram , and Facebook. 2) To help spread the news about the soon-to-launched.NGO and.ONG domains as well as .????

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The Work behind Your Work: Your Methods & Wants for Nonprofit Blog Carnival

Getting Attention

'I’m thrilled to host April’s Nonprofit Blog Carnival, and hope you’ll blog on this topic so vital to the power of our field and momentum of our causes— the methods and tools you use to stay focused, productive and happy on the job (or the barrier that keeps you from getting there). Be specific with concrete examples so we all get what you mean.

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Five Ways to Build Your Nonprofit Brand’s Buzzability

NonProfit Hub

'People like to talk. Give them something to talk about. One of the best ways to stir up awareness and publicity for your nonprofit brand is to generate some buzz—word of mouth marketing is free (or at least, cheap) and, even better, highly effective. Plus, it’s something that spans both the online and the offline worlds, and can put your organization clearly on people’s radars in a very positive fashion.

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Best #14NTC Panels and Parties to Check Out

Care2

'Every year I look forward to one very special conference - the NTC conference organized by the awesome NTEN team. This years 14NTC conference is packed with incredible parties ( including an 80s dance party that I''m co-hosting with Salsa), and the Care2 Impact Prize that recognizes individuals in the nonprofit sector who have made an outstanding impact on the field of online advocacy, online fundraising or both.

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The Online Fundraising Survival Guide

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'Does your online presence need a little work? Or, could you use some help convincing your boss or board that you need to think about your online strategy sooner, rather than later? Enter the 2014 Online Fundraising Survival Guide. It can help steer you through the digital wilderness. We’ve compiled nine key elements for mastering online fundraising and marketing, from having a stellar donation page (natch) to figuring out what the heck you’re doing with mobile.

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Nonprofit Narcissism

The Agitator

'The other day, in a post titled The Fundraisers Lemniscate , Roger included this comment by accomplished fundraiser Tony Elischer: “Fundraising is not about asking for gifts, it is about giving gifts, the gifts of enabling people to express themselves, their values and their beliefs; we help people make sense of this crazy world we live in and restore the belief that every action can make a difference and that there is good in everyone.

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Nonprofits Get an “F” for Online Fundraising Expertise

iMarketSmart

'According to a new study of 151 organizations’ websites and online marketing tactics , fundraisers get an “F”! - Eighty-four percent of nonprofits, including many of the nation’s largest charities, have NOT made their donation websites easy to read on mobile devices. - Most charities aren’t doing enough to persuade supporters to sign up for their emails, and the emails don’t give enough direction. - The groups take too long to ask for money, and they make it too hard to give o

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19 Fantastic Nonprofit Marketing Jobs—Movin’ Up Monday

Getting Attention

'Please post your open nonprofit marketing position here —for full- or part-time staff, consulting or internship opportunities. New Opportunities. Associate for Online Content & Media & Public Relations Specialist , Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (Cambridge, MA). Associate Web Producer , Blackbaud (Austin, TX). Communications Coordinator , DC Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689 (Forestville, MD).

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The Top 5 Sessions You Can’t Miss at AFP International 2014

NonProfit Hub

'With all of the top fundraising professionals in one place, the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference on Fundraising (AFPIcon) is sure to bring some of the top information and presentations to the table. And this year AFPIcon takes place from March 23 through March 25 in San Antonio, Texas. You can’t go wrong with the hand-picked lineup of speakers.

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Infographic: Cracking the Crowdfunding Code for Your Nonprofit

Care2

'Crowdfunding has really taken off in the past couple of years. Crowdfunding alone raised an estimated $5.1B worldwide in 2013. Individuals and organizations are using crowdfunding methods and platforms to raise money for their causes, and it''s working. Craig Newmark, of craigconnects, comissioned my web agency Rad Campaign to research the effects of crowdfunding, and we took the fascinating results and created an infographic.

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New Study: Are You Leaving Money in the Middle?

Nonprofit Marketing Blog

'Mind the gap. That’s the advice in a new report on mid-level donor programs. The folks at Sea Change Strategies caution that nonprofits are missing out on a ton of money simply because they’re overlooking a committed and productive audience: middle donors —the donors who give more than low-dollar direct marketing donations, but less than major gift targets.