It’s so nice to get up on my millennial soapbox once again and find a few more folks standing up here with me: Kristen Eddings of the Washington Global Health Alliance and UW School of Law student Jessica Smith. These two fellow impassioned millennials gave a great presentation at last week’s Northwest Development Officers Association winter [...]
We at The Collins Group spend our professional lives advising clients on best practices to communicate with donors. Yet writing an appeal letter for a personal cause remains an incredibly challenging fundraising effort. It seems like it should be easy formula. Worthy cause? Check. Admirable organization? Check. Compelling human element? Check. A + B + [...]
Repeating this favorite from last January as it still holds true. Have you made your checklist yet? Year-end gift acknowledgments and tax receipts are going in the mail. For many development professionals, January is the time of year for shifting gears, perhaps from a winter appeal to an upcoming signature event, or from fundraising for operations to [...]
As fundraising professionals, my TCG colleagues and I often remind our client organizations about the importance of retaining donors, and the role of good stewardship in retention. As individual donors, the end of the year is a great time to observe how well those organizations we personally support know us: our giving habits, our interests, [...]
If you are working in development right now, chances are good that your life is consumed by year-end appeals, year-end metrics, and year-end numbers. And, if you are a donor to nonprofits, this is the time of year that you receive appeals from many of them, all seeking another gift, a new gift, or a [...]
The level of philanthropic giving has remained relatively static in the U.S. over the past 40 years. Through recessionary years, this might feel like success, but who doesn’t believe our society would be a better place if the nonprofit sector had even more fuel? Thirty-five nonprofit leaders and researchers came together to determine how we [...]
It took a long time to admit to myself that I was an introverted fundraiser masquerading as an extroverted one. I enjoyed meeting with donors and working with volunteers, but I also desperately needed alone time to recharge my batteries. I thought I was the only introverted fundraiser in the world, and it wasn’t until [...]
Labor Day has long signified the end of summer, but more and more it seems to signal the beginning of the holiday season. While I am personally amazed by people who complete their holiday shopping before December, when it comes to fundraising and gifts, I’m a firm believer that early September is an excellent time [...]
Unless we work in healthcare, most of us avoid stepping into hospitals and medical centers except for the occasional visit to our doctor. Earlier this month, a family member had joint replacement surgery, affording me the opportunity to temporarily observe and indirectly experience high-quality care at Seattle’s most prestigious community hospital. The business of healthcare [...]
A 30-year veteran fundraising professional recently shared with me that she and her husband had decided to include four of her former nonprofit employers in their estate plans. At each of these organizations, she was given the opportunity to make significant contributions, engage in meaningful work, and, in one case, be a part of saving [...]
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