The Fundraising Authority — Tools and information for schools, churches, and other non-profits…

Welcome to The Fundraising Authority! Be sure to check out our Fundraising Basics and Article Archives for tons of great fundraising information.

How to Renew and Upgrade 95%+ of Your Event Sponsors Year After Year

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If you are holding an annual event (one that your organization holds each year), the first step in signing up sponsors for the event is sponsor renewal – the best sponsor prospects for your event are those companies and individuals who have previously sponsored the event. I highly recommend that you try to upgrade your […]

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Watch Out! Your Non-Profit Could be Missing a Pot of Gold

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Lots of times, people (and non-profits) don’t see the true value of what they have. They take things for granted, and underestimate the capacity of the people they are closest to. Here’s an example: for decades, the United States Postal Service was pretty disparaging about junk mail. They had to tolerate it, but most of […]

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Why Your Non-Profit Needs to Run a Crowdfunding Campaign This Year

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Over the past five years, we have consulted with non-profits on over two dozen successful crowdfunding campaigns. Here’s what we’ve learned: Every non-profit, no matter how small or large, can run a successful crowdfunding campaign Crowdfunding does not lower your annual giving, even if you are targeting the same donors Non-profits can use crowdfunding to both find new donors and energize existing donors If […]

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The Most Important Question You Aren’t Asking Your Donors

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Most non-profits know that great donor cultivation is the key to long-term donor relationships. When donors feel like part of your team, they want to donate, and they tend to give more, for a longer period of time. Great donor cultivation requires a good communication strategy, and lots of conversations with your donors. Those conversations […]

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5 Ways to Make Your Next Fundraising Letter Look Interesting Enough to Read

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People don’t read letters that look boring or tedious to read. Think about it — when you pick up your mail, do you read long sales letters, or text-heavy updates from organizations you support, written in 12 point type with no pictures or headlines? Of course not — these types of letters look like a […]

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Case Study: How to Double the Revenue from Your Next Fundraising Event

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I recently worked with a non-profit organization on a major fundraising event where we were able to double the amount of fundraising revenue for this year’s event over last year’s, and I wanted to share the lessons learned with you in this article. The organization in question holds one major fundraising event each year that […]

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Do You Have the Qualities of a Great Development Director?

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Over the past several years, I have had the opportunity to lead the search for a development director for several different non-profits, and over the course of my career have served as the development director for several organizations. I have spent a lot of time thinking – what makes a development director “great”? While great […]

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Don’t Fall Into the Trap of the Shiny New Fundraising Thing

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Modern fundraisers are bombarded with marketing messages, sales pitches, and ideas for new fundraising strategies. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the sheer volume of possibilities, tactics, and products available to non-profit development teams. When I first became a Development Director, I was shocked by the number of letters, e-mails […]

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The Story of Your Non-Profit

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How well are you telling your non-profit’s story? No… I’m not talking about that boilerplate “History of our Organization” that you have on your website. And I’m certainly not referring to the mission statement that committee of your board members hammered out 15 years ago. I’m talking about story, in its truest sense… Good. Evil. […]

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How to Write a Successful Fundraising Plan

Many non-profits, particularly smaller charities and start-ups, operate without a fundraising plan. When someone has an idea for an event or a campaign, these organizations simply put together a host committee or volunteer group and go for it. They may send out a letter here and there, and do some donor meetings, and when the […]

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Why Isn’t Our Organization Raising More Money? (A Simple Exercise for Non-Profit Leaders)

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If you’re on a non-profit board, or serve as an Executive Director, Development Director, or in another leadership role with a charitable organization, and you’re wondering why your non-profit isn’t raising more money, then read on… Today, I want to present a simple, step-by-step checklist for non-profit leaders who are asking themselves that question. If […]

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Overwhelmed With Fundraising? Try This…

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If you’re working for a small or mid-sized non-profit, there’s a good chance that you often feel overwhelmed with fundraising. There’s so much to do, and so little time (and money) to do it that the odds can seem stacked against you. Your board and executive director are probably supportive of your fundraising efforts. But, […]

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Harnessing Your Non-Profit’s Secret Fundraising Weapon

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There are two constants in non-profit fundraising. They are: (1) Every organization wants to raise more money, and (2) Every organization is stretched thin on fundraising resources, including staff and budget Because these two constants hold true in 99% of non-profits, every non-profit I have ever talked with feels like it has a ton of […]

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Do You Recognize the 4 Early Warning Signs of Donor Withdrawal?

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We’ve all been there… There’s a donor that is extremely interested in your work. He or she gives regularly – at almost every opportunity – and is one of your organization’s biggest boosters. This donor invites friends along to events, makes a major gift commitment, and posts appeals for your organization on Facebook. In short, […]

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The 60 Minute Plan for Increasing Your Fundraising by 100% this Year

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A number of years ago, while serving as the Executive Director of a non-profit, I faced a crisis. I had come on board 4 months before and could tell the ship was sinking. Most of the staff was gone, the bookkeeping was a mess, reports weren’t filed. Luckily, we had a small reserve of annual […]

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