"Fundraising has a major problem facing its sustainability, and it has nothing to do with the charitable tax deduction, with the transfer of wealth, or with the new generation of donors -- the millennials. It has everything to do with donor retention. Average donor retention rates for first time donors hover at a dismal less than 30% rate. Yet a focus on acquisition cannot be the whole solution -- not when studies reveal that donor acquisition costs seven times as much as retention. It's more cost effective to keep the donors an organization has than to chase new ones. A well-executed, strategic donor relations program is key to successful fundraising. In this book, Lynne Wester of Donor Relations Guru® helps you rethink donor relations practices and offers specific tips for more powerful acknowledgements, stewardship and impact reporting, recognition, and donor engagement."--Publisher's website.
Kathy Drucquer Duff discusses probing questions comprehensively in her book Productive Conversations with Donors: A Handbook for Frontline Fundraisers. This book provides fundraisers with new approaches for being inquisitive and persistent in an authentic manner. Learn how to use probing questions to: Thank a consistent donor Engage new prospects or "never donors" Engage young alumni Re-engage lapsed donors Re-educate donors Discover what motivates the "sometimes donor" Expand your network of connections Included are specific strategies for guiding donor conversations to inspire major gifts, planned gifts, and gifts from parents. The Second Edition includes new chapters and new examples and strategies throughout the book.
Every day of the week in contemporary America (and especially on Sundays) people raise money for their religious enterprises--for clergy, educators, buildings, charity, youth-oriented work, and more. In a fascinating look into the economics of American Protestantism, James Hudnut-Beumler examines how churches have raised and spent money from colonial times to the present and considers what these practices say about both religion and American culture. After the constitutional separation of church and state was put in force, Hudnut-Beumler explains, clergy salaries had to be collected exclusively from the congregation without recourse to public funds. In adapting to this change, Protestants forged a new model that came to be followed in one way or another by virtually all religious organizations in the country. Clergy repeatedly invoked God, ecclesiastical tradition, and scriptural evidence to promote giving to the churches they served. Hudnut-Beumler contends that paying for earthly good works done in the name of God has proved highly compatible with American ideas of enterprise, materialism, and individualism. The financial choices Protestants have made throughout history--how money was given, expended, or even withheld--have reflected changing conceptions of what the religious enterprise is all about. Hudnut-Beumler tells that story for the first time.
In a major breakthrough for the field of fundraising, Russ Alan Prince and Karen Maru File provide development professionals with the Seven Faces approach—a powerful tool to enable them to maximize their effectiveness when approaching major donors for gifts. Using this framework, the authors identify and profile seven types of major donors and offer detailed strategies on how to approach them. The seven types—the Communitarian, the Devout, the Investor, the Socialite, the Altruist, the Repayer, and the Dynast—emerged from a detailed, comprehensive study of wealthy donors. The authors explain why each type requires a different strategy when approached for gifts, and show how fundraising professionals can identify and understand the motivations of each type of donor and so build successful and sustaining relationships with major donors. The authors then show how to act on this knowledge, providing a coherent, step-by-step system to implement the Seven Faces framework. Through numerous detailed examples, they illustrate how to: attract prospective donors motivate the donor to support a cause position the giving strategy, and ultimately empower the philanthropist. The Seven Faces of Philanthropy approach can be used in the context of capital campaigns, major gift solicitations, and planned giving programs. Both novice and expert fundraisers will find this framework to be a valuable supplement to their existing strategies and techniques.
A "one size fits all" strategy is not effective when it comes to philanthropy and fundraising in today's diversified environment. This book enables nonprofit leaders, board members, staff, and volunteers of nonprofit organizations to better reach diverse populations and incorporate perspectives that increase success by surveying the cultural context for philanthropic action. Diversity and Philanthropy: Expanding the Circle of Giving is a concise, accessible, and research-backed resource that explains the traditions of philanthropy—an invaluable tool given the proliferation of global nongovernmental organizations that affect every aspect of society in every country. Author Lilya Wagner has worked across the globe as fundraising and nonprofit organizations proliferated in the last 25 years. This book is an outgrowth of her extensive research as well as an accumulation of her professional interactions in the field and real-world knowledge. The book begins with an overview of culture and its influence on generosity and then examines the global increase of attention on diversity in giving. Chapters address specific cultural and ethnic groups; the traditions of their countries of origin; what influences their giving in North America; and characteristics that are inherent in culture, such as religion and attitudes about family. The book concludes with an insightful discussion of how to be a culturally proficient professional. An extensive listing of resources—including research on various aspects and angles of the topic, and surveys on giving both in North America and globally—makes it easy for those who want to pursue related topics in more detail.
Internationally acclaimed fundraising consultant Ken Burnett has completely revised and updated his classic book Relationship Fundraising to offer fundraising professionals an invaluable resource for learning the techniques of effective communication with donors in the twenty-first century. Filled with illustrative case histories, donor profiles, and more than two hundred action points, this groundbreaking book shows fundraisers how to Implement creative approaches to relationship-building fundraising Avoid common fundraising errors and pitfalls Apply the vital ingredients for fundraising success Build good relationships through marketing Achieve a greater understanding of their donors Communicate effectively with donors--using direct mail, the press, television, the telephone, face-to-face contact, and more. Prepare for the challenges of twenty-first century fundraising
An insider’s guide to the coming philanthropic revolution Meet the next generation of big donors—the Gen X and Millennial philanthropists who will be the most significant donors ever and will shape our world in profound ways. Hear them describe their ambitious plans to revolutionize giving so it achieves greater impact. And learn how to help them succeed in a world that needs smart, effective donors now more than ever. As “next gen donors” step into their philanthropic roles, they have not only unprecedented financial resources, but also big ideas for how to wield their financial power. They want to disrupt the traditional world of charitable giving, and they want to do so now, not after they retire to a life of philanthropic leisure. Generation Impact pulls back the curtain on these rising leaders and their “Impact Revolution,” offering both extensive firsthand accounts and expert analysis of the hands-on, boundary-pushing, unconventional strategies next gen donors are beginning to pursue. This fascinating book also shows another side of the donors in Generation Impact: they want to respect the past even as they transform the future. They are determined to honor the philanthropic legacies and values they’ve inherited by making big giving more effective than ever before. If they succeed, they can make historic progress on causes from education to the environment, from human rights to health care. Based on years of research and close engagement with next gen donors, Generation Impact offers a unique profile of the new faces of philanthropy. Find out, directly from them: How they want to revolutionize giving to expand its positive impact on our lives and our communities. Which causes interest them, how they want to engage with those causes … and, perhaps more important, how they do not want to engage. Which new tools and strategies for change excite them most. What they are learning from previous generations, and what they want to bring to their work alongside those generations. How we can all ensure their historic potential is channeled in ways that make our world better. The Impact Revolution will be messy, but it could also result in solutions for some of our most persistent problems. Generation Impact offers targeted, practical advice to parents, families, and their advisors, as well as nonprofit professionals—those who work closest with these next gen donors—on how to engage, nurture, and encourage them as they reshape major giving and make their mark on history. Help them channel their enthusiasm—and their wealth—to make the most positive difference in a world with such great need.
There are eight main reasons why donors stop supporting organizations. Do you know them? You will after reading Retention Fundraising: The New Art and Science of Keeping Your Donors for Life. For three years, pioneering fundraiser Roger Craver immersed himself in a study of nonprofits in the U.S. and the U.K. His singular aim was to uncover why donors quit an organization and what can be done to make them stay. Some quick figures show why Craver's book on donor retention is timely: -If yours is a typical organization, you have a 60 to 70 percent chance of obtaining an additional gift from an existing donor. -You have a 20 to 40 percent chance of obtaining an additional gift from a recently lapsed donor. -But you have less than a 2 percent chance of obtaining a gift from a prospect. That bears repeating: The average organization has less than a 2 percent chance of securing a gift from a prospect. So one thing is glaringly obvious. The bulk of an organization's fundraising expenditures should be aimed at strengthening relationships with existing donors, not in acquiring new givers (though there's still a role for that, of course). Through painstaking research, Craver has singled out the exact ways an organization can deepen donor commitment. There are, he learned, seven key "drivers" that matter most to donors. These "drivers" - ranging from meaningful appreciation to opportunities for authentic involvement - have a direct cause-and- effect relationship. Move your donors from low to high commitment, and their giving will increase dramatically. Best of all, responding to what your donors want isn't costly, as Craver shows in real-life examples. There's gold in your current donors waiting to be mined. And in Retention Fundraising, Roger Craver has drawn a detailed map to those riches.
Focuses on one of the most attractive features of late medieval manuscript illumination: the portrait of the book owner at prayer within the pages of her prayer-book.
Achieving Excellence in Fundraising is the go-to reference for fundraising principles, concepts, and techniques. With comprehensive guidance toward the fundraising role, this book reflects the latest advances in fundraising knowledge. Coverage includes evolving technologies, the importance of high net worth donors, global fundraising perspectives, results analysis and performance evaluation, accountability, and credentialing, with contributions from noted experts in the field. You'll gain essential insight into the practice of fundraising and the fundraising cycle, reinforced by ancillary discussion questions, case studies, and additional readings. With contributions from members of The Fund Raising School and the faculty of Indiana University's Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, this new edition includes detailed guidance on nonprofit accounting practices as defined by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, rounding out the complete, thorough coverage of the fundraising profession. Designed to provide both theory and practical knowledge, this book is an all-in-one resource for anyone who performs fundraising duties. Understand donor dynamics and craft an institutional development plan Explore essential marketing and solicitation techniques Learn effective volunteer recruitment, retention, and management strategies Fundraising merges a variety of fields including psychology, business management, accounting, and marketing, making it a unique role that requires a uniquely well rounded yet focused skillset. Amidst economic uncertainty and a widening wealth gap the world over, it's more important than ever for fundraisers to have a firm grasp on the tools at their disposal. Achieving Excellence in Fundraising is the ultimate guide to succeeding in this critical role.
