What's the bigger challenge to fundraising: complexity or uncertainty? Both plague most development shops. Development officers encounter complexity every day. They juggle a zillion prospects, campaigns, events, sponsorships, and reporting tasks, so maybe it's all that complexity that's the bigger problem. On the other hand, uncertainty is also a constant threat, from the development [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. The data are in: nonprofits need better fundraising performance. AFP's Fundraising Effectiveness Project 2013 reveals that gains of $769 million from new, upgraded current and previously lapsed donors were offset by losses of $735 million through [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. This posting is about the tin-cup mentality, and my strong desire to get rid of it once and for all. The tin-cup mentality is the state of mind that says "We're a poor lowly charity! Give [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. When it comes to fundraising, who are we raising the money for, exactly? I think we're raising it for our donors. I was prompted to think about this question the other day, when I posted something [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. Hey, fundraising professionals - who's your boss? I'm pretty sure I can guess your answers. You're most likely reporting to one of the following humans: your director of development; your executive director/CEO; or your board. Ask [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. Hard Data about Fundraising Productivity Our Leaky Bucket Assessment, open since April 2011, has revealed significant gaps - "leaks" - in the way large proportions of nonprofits manage their fundraising efforts. The data is troubling indeed. [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. Does your forecasting feel like this? If so maybe we need to rethink things. One of the things I want to rethink is the difference between the pipeline and the forecast. The PIPELINE isn’t the same as [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. Why conduct a development audit? What is it anyway? Development audits are in-depth analyses of what's happening in your fundraising shop - and what some people in the organization think is happening (or not). Opinions about such audits [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. This is the first in a series of posts on the question of fundraising management, an issue I believe will revolutionize fundraising as we know it; as long as we understand and adopt the concept. First, [...]
This article is originally published on Bristol Strategy Group which is a “knoweldge” partner of Your Funding Network. What's missing in Moves Management? In most sales organizations, Moves Management would simply be called “Account Planning,” which is how big companies handle their major, national, or global accounts. This is the second article in our series [...]