A Runner’s Guide to the Annual Fund Marathon
I’m a runner. I love those solitary mornings when it’s just me and the road. And I chase the feeling of beating a tough hill, finishing a long course, or just coming home tired and happy from a jog. For my fellow fundraisers, whether you like to jog or not, the lessons I’ve learned […]
Fundraising Today and Tomorrow: An Interview With Christine Tempesta of MIT
This series of short conversations with advancement leaders gives us a peek into exciting new projects, the challenges facing our industry, and the future of fundraising. In this chat, Christine Tempesta, senior director of information systems and volunteer services at Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT), talks about the struggles (and necessity!) of dealing with data, […]
Powerful Ways to Segment Donors for Your Next Appeal
My wife, Sonja, keeps getting mail from AARP. Even though she’s about four decades away from becoming a “retired person,” they keep asking her to join their association. Every couple of months a new invitation arrives, and every couple of months (after a laugh) we add another envelope to our recycling pile. In today’s world, […]
Creative Ways to Get Major Donors Involved in Giving Challenges
Securing major gifts is all about matching engagement with interest. We want to get our top prospects plugged into what’s happening on campus and connect their individual interests to a project that benefits everyone. I’m a believer in the power of the giving challenge; I’ve run several and contributed to others as a donor. Not only […]
The Donor Retention Stats You Need to Know
Final numbers aren’t in yet, but like we saw last year, I bet we set new overall dollar fundraising records in higher ed. But I also think we’re going to see overall participation rates decline. Again. While we should celebrate the overall growth in giving, we should also be worried about losing donors. The long-term […]
Designing a Giving Form That Will Delight Your Donors
Picture this: a donor knocks on your office door. She has a stack of cash and she wants to give it all away. What do you do? Do you make her take a seat in the lobby and hand her a clipboard with three sheets of information that she has to fill out before she […]
Use the Force (of Facebook Ads)
Disclaimer: I am not a Star Wars fanboy and I don’t speak Wookie, but with Star Wars Day just behind us (“May the Fourth Be With You”), I was inspired. Be a Light Saber, Not a Death Star A light saber in the hands of a Jedi is like a brush grasped by Da Vinci: a […]
Missed #CASESMC? Here’s What You Need to Know.
Last week, Miami played Mecca for a group of 200 fellow social nerds from the advancement world. The 2015 CASE Social Media and Community conference, chaired by blogger extraordinaire Keith Hannon, was a nitrous boost of Will Smith references, case studies, motivational gifs, solid data, and ROI examples, and anyone who was there is probably […]
Increase Your Fundraising Video ROI With These 4 Tips
I’ve been especially passionate about this topic ever since I failed at it. A couple years ago, my school put together a cinematographically stunning appeal for the annual fund. Check it out, it’s beautiful… like Mercedes-Benz-commercial-meets-Ryan-Gosling gorgeous: We rolled out this film a couple weeks before the end of the fiscal year, positive that alumni […]