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Best practices in donor relations, stewardship, and engagement to retain supporters and grow your giving base.
Reading Time: 4 minutesBoston, MA, April 22, 2025 /Boston Globe/ — Anita Taylor, an elementary school teacher in Concord, N.H., did not attend Harvard University. And she rarely makes charitable donations. Yet last week, after learning that the nation’s oldest…
Reading Time: 2 minutesIn my first role as a fundraiser, I was taught the axiom “people give to people.” While this remains true, recent trends in anonymous giving are making it more difficult to understand the person behind the gift.…
Reading Time: 4 minutesHigher education institutions are navigating a sea of complex challenges: preparing for an enrollment cliff, declining levels of state and federal support, and re-envisioning how education looks in this new, post-pandemic world. In addition, historically black colleges…
Reading Time: 4 minutesIn today’s rapidly changing nonprofit landscape, innovation is critical to staying relevant and achieving impact. However, with limited resources, it can be challenging, daunting, or downright unrealistic for nonprofits to pursue groundbreaking new ideas. Fortunately, sometimes the…
Reading Time: 4 minutesPlanned giving, the act by which a donor creates a financial or estate plan to make a charitable contribution at a future date, can be an excellent supplement to your annual fundraising efforts. Planned gifts can include…
Reading Time: 3 minutesThere are five main components to the fundraising cycle. Identify, Qualify, Cultivate, Solicit, and Steward. Each component of the cycle serves its own unique purpose. And while each component is essential, stewardship – continued engagement with donors…
Reading Time: 4 minutesDiversity. Equity. Inclusion. Belonging. Justice. These may seem like buzzwords, but they represent principles that are fundamental to the missions of many nonprofits. And when these principles are approached with intentionality, strategy, and curiosity, they can have…
Reading Time: 3 minutesWhile development offices everywhere are feeling the effects of The Great Resignation, turnover has long been cited as a top challenge to fundraising success. And when those offices are understaffed or experience transition, stewardship is often the…
Reading Time: 6 minutes“So, why do you support our organization?” This seems like a simple question that many times goes unasked. Donors are fascinating, unique individuals who consider multiple motivations when deciding how, when, and why to be charitable. It…
Reading Time: 3 minutesEducational institutions have “built in” donor bases within their alumni populations, but non-alumni can have tremendous philanthropic impact as well. In fact , Graham-Pelton conducted research of the top 50 gifts made to education in 2020, according…