Giving is Good
Our friends at Achieve and Johnson Grossnickle Associates recently published research on the giving inclinations of Millennials. They surveyed 2,200 of the facebooking and twittering-set between the ages of 20 and 40 (75% were “Millennials”) and asked how they would like to engage with and be solicited by non-profits. So, here are 3 key findings…
Let’s say your portfolio has 150 prospects. Most readers of this blog (because they are some of the sharpest development folk out there!) have a plan for how each will be solicited in the coming year. It may be that you plan to solicit 40-60 during face-to-face visits with specific, major gift proposals. Others…
As much as we may wish not to admit, meetings matter. The types and number of meetings you hold is a key component of your development program’s infrastructure. Too many meetings and the team doesn’t have enough time to visit with donors. Too few meetings, or meetings with no understood purpose, and a team, within…
So, the 2009 Giving USA data has been released and some people aren’t happy. What does Giving USA report? Adjusted for inflation, year-over-year giving in 2009 declined by 3.2%. Not surprisingly, there was a decline. But, here is what has some people confused and even upset: Giving from individuals – which make up 75% of…
The most common question I get regarding performance-based metrics is, “what should we be counting?” Is it visits? moves? phone calls? dollars raised? number of proposals submitted? etc. And while I can make a well-reasoned argument as to why a particular set of metrics will be more powerful in predicting success than another, I can…
Science has educated us on the term “in vitro” – which means to conduct work not in a living, whole organism but in a controlled, sterile environment. “In vitro” became part of our lexicon because of its use in reproductive science. The so-called test tube babies. On the other hand, we have heard less…
What if. . . instead of spending the time, energy, money, and effort on developing the “right messages” and the “best marketing practices” for our organizations we focused on becoming a more helpful resource to those we aim to serve. What if. . . instead of “telling and selling” our donors, we listened to their…
We all know the negative typecasts we struggle against: Development professionals are posers. Development professionals are paid to party and play golf. Development professionals don’t really do anything. And, of course, there are some development professionals who, unfortunately, fit these typecasts (although none who read this blog I feel sure!). But most development pros are…
Recently, the Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that the calendar year is off to a strong philanthropic start. According to a survey of selected large charities, the median increase in giving during the first quarter of 2010 as compared to a year ago is 11%! Not bad. I’m not an economist, so I can’t say with…
Recently, I was talking with a friend – a younger, thoughtful donor with capacity (a HENRY, actually). Here was his message to me: “My wife and I are getting overwhelmed by all the solicitations from non-profits – world tragedies like earthquakes, to education institutions, to health-care organizations – it’s just too much. We used to…