May
12
2023
We Have a Problem
I like to read the Fundraising Effectiveness Project’s reports on a fairly regular basis. It shows the triumphs and challenges we face as a profession. Sometimes...
acquisition
Oct
29
2021
Squeezing the Midsection Isn’t Always Fun
One of my first blogs was a ten-part Fundraising Mythbuster series. There, I wrote about the myth-conception that most money comes from Special Events. For that...
Mar
19
2021
What to Track in Fundraising
By now, all organizations should have closed off their 2020 (calendar) year. And what a year it was! I can confidently say that for every organization,...
Oct
16
2020
Fundraising Metrics Part 1
Peter Drucker, the famous management consultant, would often proclaim, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” Fundraising is chock-full of metrics, and in this...
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...
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...
Jan
31
2020
Mass Emails (Inexpensive & Low Effort) = Spray & Pray
Despite what some people will tell you, fundraising isn’t easy — if it was everyone would be doing it! (It’s human nature to do certain things...
Apr
20
2018
Is your bucket leaking donors?
There is a great adage out there that it is better/more economical to retain a customer/donor than it is to acquire a new one. That is...