Sep
25
2020
Recommended Reading
I have to admit that I wasn’t always a reader. Perhaps it was my ADHD, but I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of staring...
Prospects and Donors
Sep
18
2020
What Comes First — the Overhead, or the Revenue?
Every charity that I have worked with in my 25-plus years worries about overhead costs. As they should. The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) also has a...
Jul
03
2020
8 Mistakes that Hurt Fundraising
Everybody makes fundraising mistakes. Hopefully, everybody learns from their mistakes. But, wouldn’t it be nice if we could learn from others’ mistakes without having to endure...
Jun
26
2020
Why vs How: A Tool for the Debate
A few years ago, I wrote an article discussing the Why vs How when it comes to fundraising. This has always been at the heart of...
Jun
05
2020
Don’t make people’s minds up for them
Sometimes, people who fundraise are uncomfortable when canvassing. It is usually related to the great unknown — how will the prospect/donor react? What will they say?...
May
22
2020
Are you Fishing in the Right Pond?
There is always this push/pull dichotomy between donor acquisition and donor upgrade. Above all, a fundraiser’s efforts should be precise and fruitful — the spray and...
Apr
03
2020
Find the Helpers
As I said in last week’s post, these are unprecedented times. With these times of economic uncertainty, health uncertainty, and psychological uncertainty, one of the only...
Mar
27
2020
Doing the Right Thing
So, this Covid-19 thing has everyone very concerned. And rightfully so. Where I work, we have had to temporarily lay off over 480 hard-working folks as...
Mar
20
2020
Covid-19 & Fundraising
Never in my life have I ever seen a situation as we find ourselves in right now. Admittedly, I was less than a stellar student at...
Feb
21
2020
Is Sponsorship Philanthropy?
People often interchange the terms of Sponsorship and Philanthropy. They are two totally different beasts, and usually come out of two totally different budget lines (for...