Fundraising Talks
News and updates from the USM Office of
Advancement Research
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This summary by the Aspire Research Group
outlines the findings of the
Wealth Report 2019 by Knight Frank
. The report explores how private wealth impacts property throughout the world including real estate, luxury items, and art. The report also focuses on ultra high net worth individuals, who are defined as anyone with a net worth over $30 million. While the report's findings focus mainly on the impact of high net worth individuals on housing markets, Aspire Research Group suggests ways that fundraisers may connect and identify with these individuals. They suggest speaking to high net worth prospects about their passions and paying attention to how they speak about their future--a high net worth donor's world views regarding wealth and politics may impact their philanthropic giving.
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Over the past six decades, individual donors continue to be the largest philanthropic group. With that knowledge, obtaining and sustaining individual donors is vital to your annual giving campaign, according to npEngage. How can a fundraising office plan an annual campaign with that goal in mind?
npEngage gives a highly detailed, step-by-step guide
to help development teams have a successful annual fund campaign. First, they break down the art of appeals, which can generate awareness for your mission, build relationships, and increase revenue. Next up are events, which are an exciting and challenging way to expose a campaign. Develop different types of events to appeal to many levels of donors and to maximize attendance. Lastly, npEngage does a deep dive into stewardship. No two donors are alike and want to be stewarded in identical ways. npEngage suggests tried and true methods to steward donors to ensure that they will be retained, and suggests low-cost touches to keep connections alive.
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Nonprofits are up against stiff competition when it comes to getting grants. In order to improve the chances of getting a grant, there are many mistakes that your organization can avoid making. Inside Philanthropy describes six common issues nonprofits face when applying for grants. One mistake nonprofits make is failing to advance the grant maker's mission. Read the grant makers values and mission statements and write grant proposals that show how your organization can move their vision forward. Another common mistake to avoid is writing with too much jargon. Often, writing is oversaturated with terminology specific to a particular profession, which requires the reader to Google terms to understand the application. Make sure you're writing so that the maximum number of people can understand.
Read about the other four mistakes nonprofits make here.
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The Forbes Nonprofit Council shared eight common fundraising mistakes they've seen throughout the years and how nonprofits can avoid making them. Not building the right relationship with a donor can be detrimental to your organization's fundraising goals. By building transactional relationships with donors, you are limiting your relationship from thriving and growing. Instead, take a thoughtful approach when asking donors for a contribution. Be deliberate in choosing when and why you're asking a donor for a contribution. Next, don't expect that your nonprofit's grandiose ideas will succeed without proper planning and implementation. Planning is a key step in ensuring that all fundraising efforts are met. Furthermore, when meeting with new donors, always keep in mind their potential doubts about your organization and the impact their gift can make. Building trust with a donor and your organization takes time. Lastly, make sure you know your audience and make fundraising requests in amounts that are appropriate for your particular audience.
Read the full list here.
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After hosting a great fundraising event, it's important to organize your donors and strategize for future outreach. G2 Crowd compiled the top ten strategies for organizing donors after a big fundraising event. First, they suggest assigning 'new engagement' title in your CRM to new supporters who have attended your event and never engaged with your nonprofit before. By labeling these supporters, you can later send a welcome message or packet that provides more information about what your nonprofit does. G2 Crowd also suggests creating a volunteer segment in your CRM for those who gave their time. Those who volunteer with charities are also more likely to donate financially, some studies suggest they are ten times more likely to donate! It's also important to hear the negative feedback. When writing surveys for your event, make sure you do not lead the respondent to a positive answer. By addressing criticism, your nonprofit is more likely to expand its reach and appeal to more supporters.
Read all ten strategies here.
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