Gratitude. Thankfulness. Appreciation. The feels both you and a donor feel whenever someone contemplates, or gives, a gift to your organization. Acknowledgement. Recognition. These are the underlying secrets known by successful fundraisers worth their salt. At base, they’re about the obligation philanthropy facilitators carry to show supporters how much their support means. Sounds simple. And… The post Top Secrets to Igniting the Philanthropic Fire and Keeping the Warm Glow Burning? appea...| Clairification
In an issue of her Loyalty Letter, Lisa Sargent recently noted: “I just wrapped up supporter survey season in my little copywriting studio. And every year, the most powerful answers come from one simple question: “WHY DO YOU GIVE?” The responses stop me in my tracks every time. I smile. I cry. I sigh.… The post Why People Give to YOU appeared first on Clairification.| Clairification
Does proving your point persuade your nonprofit donor? It turns out not so much. At least, not unless your donor is already pretty much won over. Proof (“just the facts, m’am”), absent persuasion (“once upon a time”), won’t get you far. In “How to Project Manage Your Nonprofit Story,” I delved into the concept of… The post Facts Tell, Stories Sell: The Fundraising Mistake You’re Probably Making appeared first on Clairification.| Clairification
The job of the smart fundraiser is inspiring passionate philanthropy to make people’s lives better. I know you’re smart, because you’re reading this article! But none of us is born with a fundraising gene. And no one ever really teaches us how to write a smart fundraising appeal. We from our predecessors. Or maybe read…| Clairification
In 1984 Robert Cialdini wrote a groundbreaking bo, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, outlining principles of influence that affect human behaviors. Today these principles have been well documented. Trail-blazing research added by behavioral scientists like Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky supports and expands on Cialdini’s principles. No matter how much technology advances, the triggers behind human behavior and…| Clairification
Use of Donor Advised Funds (DAFs) as a way for individuals to make charitable contributions continues to rise and grants from DAFs are becoming a growing source of income for charities of all shapes and sizes. An ever-broader group of donors are embracing them to approach philanthropy in the thoughtful, strategic way once reserved only…| Clairification
Get on the Pathway to Passionate Philanthropy, Not Forgettable Fundraising Philanthropy is a mindset. An embracing culture. A noble value. Fundraising is a means towards that end. Servant to philanthropy. Philanthropy, not fundraising. This has been the tag for my business and blog since I began Clairification in 2011. It grew naturally out of…| Clairification
I find a widespread misunderstanding about the notion of what constitutes being donor-centered. It derives from two misconceptions: Assuming people don’t want to be asked. Spending all your time on cultivation, assuming folks don’t need an ask and will simply give spontaneously as a result of being wooed. Both of these rationales short-change your would-be…| Clairification
You must invite your donor into the story. Take yourself out of the equation. Donors don’t care about you, but about what they can do through you. Stop talking about your good work. Talk, instead, about the good work your donor wants to do. How? 5-Step Strategy to Illuminate the Donor’s Role in Repairing the…| Clairification
What gets donors going? The heart, not the head. “People do not give to the most urgent needs, but rather they support causes that mean something to them.” This is the finding from a report done by the Centre for Charitable Giving and Philanthropy at the University of Kent: “How Donor Choose Charities.” They…| Clairification