Monthly giving programs provide your nonprofit with reliable revenue throughout the year. When compared to other fundraising initiatives, monthly giving may seem like it takes a “set-it-and-forget-it approach.” However, growing your monthly giving program to maximize its benefits takes dedicated time and investment. Knowing the program will earn regular donations once it’s established can be freeing for some nonprofits, but it may make other fundraising professionals assume that they can’t actively expand their monthly giving program further. As an incredibly valuable source of income, your monthly giving program is worth additional investment to ensure it’s achieving its maximum potential. Keeping in mind that monthly donors tend to increase their value over time, your nonprofit can take additional steps to attract more monthly donors and earn more from the supporters currently enrolled in your program. To help your nonprofit expand your monthly giving program, this article will explore five key tips including:
How to Build a Foolproof Volunteer Communications Strategy
Every organization that relies on the hard work of volunteers understands just how important it is to foster a connected and motivated team. Communicating with volunteers has become more important than ever since 2020 and is essential to increasing volunteer engagement and retention. Effective communication strategies can greatly impact your organization's ability to cultivate long-term and meaningful relationships with volunteers. Creating these long-term relationships will not only help your nonprofit retain volunteers, but it can also help inspire those volunteers to donate more time and even money towards your cause. In this quick guide, we’ll offer some foolproof volunteer communication strategies to help you foster meaningful long-term relationships with your volunteers:
It’s time for a pop quiz! Yes, this is a pop quiz for our organization’s board members. You can download a PDF of this pop quiz here.
This quiz will gauge an individual board member’s engagement to the organization. Of course, this isn’t scientific. But it may serve as a good tool to spark the conversation about what drives the nonprofit, how to deepen the connection between the board member and what really drives the org, and perhaps to invigorate the passion you want board members to have for your cause.
Quickly answer these yes/no questions:
This is my second quarterly update for 2021. I've got seven quick updates for you this time:
- If you have a podcast, may I be a guest on your show? Send me a note, and let’s set it up.
Fundraising vs. Development
What’s the difference between fundraising and development? Some people say it’s just a matter of semantics. They may be right. But I think there’s a distinction that’s worth noting.
Fundraising vs. Development
Fundraising is transactional. It is the transaction of asking for and receiving a gift. Fundraising asks tend to happen on a timeline determined by the organization.
Development is relational. It is the process of developing relationships with donors for long-term, organizational benefit. Gifts may bind the donor to your organization over the entire span of the relationship. This timeline is defined by the donor.
Diversity is quite the hot-button issue these days. But diversity is much more than an overused buzz-word, and diversifying your board is an all-hands-on-deck endeavor.
All the research unanimously suggests that diverse boards make smarter decisions, diversify their donor base, and better serve their communities. The research also shows that the majority of board leadership tends to be homogeneous in composition--over eighty percent white--and more than twenty-five percent of boards lack any people of color.
The game of leadership is played with many moving variables. When looking for board members, it is essential to include people of different backgrounds--differing life experiences that are shaped by race, sex, disability, socioeconomic status, industry experience, and even age. Including those voices on your board is critically important. All those individual perspectives, life experiences, and professional contacts are important for enriching your board’s decision making, and creating a generational impact for your nonprofit.
So how then do you go about diversifying your board? I've got eight steps / suggestions for you: