Fundraising Articles

WHAT MOTIVATES AN INDIVIDUAL TO DONATE TO AN ORGANISATION? There are many reasons people support a worthy cause. Understanding donor motivations – i.e. what’s behind someone’s philanthropic direction – can help an organisation identify new potential funders. However, as philanthropy has become more sophisticated so, too, have donors. Donors seek a return on their investment […]

If you want to run successful fundraising campaigns, you must live (or die) by what I call “Rule #1”: Be donor-centric in everything you do. In other words, always work to put yourself in the donor’s shoes and make every aspect of your fundraising program work in a way that will connect well with them

Did you hear the one about the donor who was offered feedback on their performance as a donor? Some donors – including those who give small amounts of money or who scatter their largesse – are requesting more and more “impact reporting” from the charities they donate to. I love the idea of a donor

For some non-profit leaders, it seems intuitive to establish separate structures for operating fundraising activities, collecting gifts, and distributing funds. Often this is not a legal necessity but the result of an effort to generate credibility with donors by creating a perception of independence. There are many organisations that make decisions to establish legally separate

You’re looking for a new board member. What’s the first thing that will come into their mind when they think about your organisation’s fundraising? Someone is going to ask them for money, perhaps? Or ask them to share your “contacts”? Asking a new board member to focus on his or her capacity to give or

CHOOSE YOUR FUNDRAISING STRATEGY APPROACH How do organisations choose a fundraising strategy? Here are four approaches we see used by New Zealand non-profit organisations: Approaches 1 and 3 will provide incremental, but unremarkable growth. Approach 2 will eventually lead to a diversified fundraising operation as seen in some of the large hospitals. Approach 4 might

Labour day, 22 October saw the reopening of St Patrick’s Catholic Church, Akaroa, following an eight-month long restoration made possible by a successful fundraising campaign lead by AskRIGHT. Under the guidance of consultants Shelagh Murray and Jennifer Eagar, parish volunteers exceeded their fundraising target to raise close to $300,000 to pay for this ambitious and

Many nonprofits operate different programs, and this can mean operating between different teams. In these situations, a sponsorship or corporate partners program and a philanthropic program will have particular team dynamics to work with, which may include: reporting to the same supervisor in the same department reporting to different supervisors within the same department reporting

Trucking magnate Lindsay Fox is reputed to have said: “My biggest business decision was to get a second truck.” Going from one truck to two is monumental for a small business; for many nonprofit organisations going from no fundraising staff to one is just as big a step. HIRING FUNDRAISING STAFF IS A BIG STEP