Fundraising becomes easier when a nonprofit group has the right array of volunteers. What are the right types? Twenty years of experience have led me to cluster them into five unique styles. 1. The Decision-Makers When decision-makers are good, they...
There is no other group on your donor file more likely to leave you money in their wills than your monthly donors, donors who have really bonded with your cause. They're willing to give you direct access to their personal...
The Cathedral Within: Transforming your life by giving something back By Bill Shore; US$21.95 + shipping and handling; Butterworths; available in our bookstore Bill Shore, founder of Share Our Strength, an anti-hunger, anti-poverty organization, profiles community leaders throughout the United...
1. Capital Bequest - Unrestricted use I direct my Estate Trustee to transfer as a gift to [Charity] the sum of $_____, (____% of my estate or residue of my estate), to be used for such purposes in connection with...
Imagine writing a foundation proposal requesting "lots of money for a big building to support our good work." The most sympathetic foundation executive wouldn't tolerate such a vague and lazy request for a minute. Yet most planned giving programs tell...
In Canada the charitable remainder trust has, until recent years, been virtually unknown. The United States, however, has been so taken by the concept that the most common form of a planned gift there, with the exception of a bequest,...
Well, what's doing simple things well got to do with charitable gift planning? Everything. Like it or not, the competition for donor dollars is intense -- and it's only getting more intense. In the 21st century, the competition will accelerate...
No visitor seriously bent on a successful prospect call ever goes unprepared. Here is our Solicitor's Check-list for Success, a few of the most crucial dos and don'ts to bear in mind as you knock on that next door, behind...
Recognition events are repetitive, boring and simply too long. In fact, being kept personally informed of what the gifts were achieving is the most important and valued form of donor recognition. That's what feedback from a donor recognition survey of...
This article was originally published in Canadian FundRaiser Any relationship -- marketer-customer, master-servant, husband-wife -- needs to be renewed from time to time. Fundraisers must keep in mind that there's no such thing as a permanent commitment anymore. People tend...
