By susanlienau | June 8, 2016 | Capital Campaigns, Featured News, Major Gifts
Running a campaign for any organization is a challenge, but the task can be especially daunting for organizations which have a limited pool of major gift prospects. Many organizations wonder how to successfully run a campaign without losing ground in other areas, such as annual funds and regular operations and services. What may be surprising Read More…
By susanlienau | May 17, 2016 | Featured News, Leadership Development, Major Gifts, Philanthropy Operations
You hired a new Major Gift Officer with the goals of building and expanding your prospect portfolio and increasing your fundraising totals. Given the average tenure of a Major Gift Officer is 16 months, it is important to cultivate and retain talent. Creating the right onboarding program will set the stage for a long-term, healthy Read More…
By susanlienau | March 28, 2016 | Averill Announcements, Featured News, Major Gifts, Philanthropy Operations
How will the election year and an uncertain economy affect charitable giving in 2016? Is tried and true major gift fundraising being replaced by other methods? Averill Fundraising Solutions President, Robert C. Happy, Jr. joined Denver Frederick on The Business of Giving to answer these questions and more on Sunday, March 27, 2016. Fellow guests Read More…
By susanlienau | February 24, 2016 | Annual Funds, Featured News, Leadership Development, Major Gifts, Philanthropy Operations
Converting your annual fund donor or occasional special event attendee to a full-fledged major gift prospect is central to any organization’s fundraising success. This action alone can make or break a campaign or annual fundraising goal – and it all begins with securing a meeting. Recognizing this, it’s perplexing that so many not-for-profits are passive Read More…
By susanlienau | February 18, 2016 | Capital Campaigns, Featured News, Major Gifts, Prospect Research
It’s a new year and that means new fundraising goals. You wrapped up year-end giving and dove headfirst into this year’s projects. But where does that quick jump back in leave your bigger, more time-consuming, and possibly costly projects? Does your school need a new science wing? Library? Gym? What about your animal shelter? Are Read More…
By susanlienau | January 19, 2016 | Featured News, Major Gifts, Philanthropy Operations
Special events get a bad reputation: too labor intensive, too expensive, not enough return on investment, declining attendance. Has this been part of your discussion regarding special events? Your organization is smart to weigh all of these factors before plunging forward into something of significant magnitude. And yet, events – done well – can also Read More…
By susanlienau | December 18, 2015 | Annual Funds, Capital Campaigns, Featured News, Major Gifts
Two years ago, we received a call from an enthusiastic donor who was ready to make a seven-figure gift to support capital projects. His one condition, however, was for his gift to be structured in a way that would encourage giving from others in the community. Only a few million from our campaign goal, we Read More…
By susanlienau | November 16, 2015 | Annual Funds, Featured News, Major Gifts, Philanthropy Operations
Consider this: 31% of your fundraising dollars are raised in December and 12% of all giving occurs in the last 3 days of the calendar year. It’s time to sit back and relax as your gifts roll in, right? Wrong! Now is the most important time to build a strategy around your year-end giving campaign. Read More…