FundRaiser Blog

The FundRaiser Software Blog is an excellent resource for nonprofit organizations looking to learn more about fundraising, donor management, membership management, and much more.

Schools improve donations by focusing on their most generous donors, part 2

Schools improve donations by focusing on their most generous donors, part 2

Read Part 1 here

Most schools find that building strong relationships with parents, alumni, and the close relatives of students and alumni, is an excellent way to increase donor loyalty and donations.

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Schools improve donations by focusing on their most generous donors, part 1

Schools improve donations by focusing on their most generous donors, part 1

Read Part 2 here

When schools focus their donor cultivation on parents, alumni, and the close relatives of students and alumni, they are likely to see a very positive return. Knowing this has led to increased donations for several schools who are FundRaiser users. They know for a fact that these groups are their most generous because they clearly identified this trend in FundRaiser. Using these same techniques to identify common giving trends, your school – or other non profit— can clarify which of your constituent groups are most supportive.

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Getting over the fear of asking for money

Getting over the fear of asking for money

Some interesting facts about asking for money:

few people give money unless they are askednearly everyone feels good when they give moneylower income people dig deeper and give a higher percentage of their income than high income peoplewhen you ask people you know for a contribution, at least half of them will say yes

Are you still nervous thinking about how you 'should' ask for money, but think you can't?

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Finding Foundation Funding

Finding Foundation Funding

Dear Kim:

How does a really good organization get foundation funding?  I know from your books that you don’t recommend relying on grants, but it seems like they are a help for getting programs off the ground.  I have used the Foundation Center’s database, which is great, and I have identified potential grantmakers, followed instructions, but so far have nothing to show for it.  I took an online course on grant writing and, I hope without sounding arrogant, I feel I know how to write a grant.  But it seems like you need to really know somebody to get grant money.  Can you share any secrets? 

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Useful Donor Information

Useful Donor Information

Dear Kim,

We have 500 donors, of whom 50 give over $1,000 and another 50 give between $500-999. We do a decent job of keeping in touch with these 100 donors, usually talking to them by phone or visiting the top 20 largest donors at least once a year. I keep all the information on these donors and I am retiring, so cleaning out my files and getting ready to pass this information on to the next person. I have pages of stuff on some people, and almost nothing on others. But what should I have? And what should I delete?

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3 Nonprofit Marketing Skills I Learned from Aunt Frances

3 Nonprofit Marketing Skills I Learned from Aunt Frances

Some of you may remember my stories about my wondrous Great Aunt Frances. We grew into close friends over the years I lived a few blocks from her in NYC.

Aunt Frances was fantastic—a warm, loving, down-to-earth lady who’d had many life adventures and was a fantastic cook.

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communications data conversion donor targeting ticketsales ROI overview donor retention rate community arts nonprofits donor slip PayPal training motivation code gift notes field upgrading donors Thanksgiving advanced tab National Change of Address Volunteer module holiday giving Network for Good Congratulations mission driven role of nonprofits publicity materials welcome packet customer service on site training pledges major donors accounting software pictures donor profile lapsed donor recurring gifts mailing vacation prospects membership benefits follow up volunteering new features #GivingTuesday holiday passwords End of Year Letters community supported gardens operating systems charity golf tournaments user spotlights campaign Alternative Addresses gift acceptance policy direct mail donor engagement grants Donor Portal premiums Importing Data capital campaign Groupings tech tip donor retention phoning donors custom page Tickles how to handle auction gifts Crowdfunding Campaign office development director fundraising letters donor relations password protection mode code transparency donor contact information upgrade word processor board members membership programs NCOA processing campaign management correspondence letter templates product news repeat donors announcements new leadership online donations how-to videos tribute gifts FundRaiser Hosted reports technical support tax summary letters annual campaign online donations entering auction gifts change of address updating GoFundMe project giving levels targeted mailings large donations donor advised funds general flash sales raffle letter updates adding personal notes to letters budget training tip merge fields backing up data LYBUNTS annual maintenance plan Snow Birds donor loyalty solicitors social media New Year foundations donation history membersip benefits relationship tracking support disaster relief alumni email appeal nonprofit fundraising ticket sales donor attrition rate animal rescue SYBUNTS holiday letters fundraising security Personalizing spare fields small donations donor source planning donor preferences the Ask salutation personalizing letters gift entry major gift prospects segmenting donors correspondance customer portal Thank You data entry moves management arts monthly giving Constant Contact auction FundRaiser Spark merge notes Company culture user interface new nonprofit Reminders importing csv planned giving volunteers building donor relationships in honor of donations Codes motivation spreadsheets banquet Facebook FundRaiser Basic data analysis community broadcasting texting donors case study event management increasing giving amounts corporate sponsors donor prospects GivingTuesday donor happiness legacy giving operational costs government grants Resiliency new version Task List Reporting to IRS Cloud anonymous donors understanding giving trends memorial giving In-Kind gifts new donors donor attrition thank you letters endowment campaign appeal letters add ons look and feel Excel brick campaign Facebook campaign grassroots campaign donor recognition giving history features

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