Anyone who has ever organized, worked, or volunteered for a gala knows what an immense amount of work goes in behind the scenes to execute the spectacular celebration that your donors have come to know and love. Luckily, the payoff has the potential to be big—in addition to being a fundraising event, with the right research, you can also use your gala as a moment for donor cultivation and stewardship.
Read MoreOver the life of your hopefully ongoing relationship with each of your individual donors, there may come a moment (or moments) when it is time to ask them to increase their annual gift to your organization. There are plenty of tools-of-the-trade that you can put to use in this process – for instance, you might adjust the minimum giving levels on the pledge cards you send with annual mailings, or alter the donation levels for your patron program. Ever the proponent of donor research, however, we’d like to suggest a thoughtful and personal approach to securing an increased gift from an annual donor.
Read MoreWorking to develop a relationship with an institutional donor can take hard work and time—sometimes years! — and because of the reporting requirements that many of them have, the hard work doesn’t end when the grant is awarded. So, what can you and your team do to keep your corporate, foundation, and government funders happy—and keep your organization on their roster of grantees? You’ve got to figure out how they tell their story.
Read MoreKeeping your data clean can be like flossing. You know you should do it, but the benefits are not always short term and it can too easily fall to the bottom of your priority list. However, keeping your data clean can be so important to your fundraising process over the course of the year that we’re here to make the case that it should be the one New Year’s Resolution that you don’t let go by the wayside.
Read MoreIt is undeniable that the development of new technology has revolutionized the way that people donate to charitable organizations. Now, the rising trend of apps and tools for micro-donations makes it possible for people who might not have otherwise considered themselves philanthropists to give money to your cause.
Read MoreIf you manage your organization’s gala or major special events, you’re probably all too familiar with the joys and challenges of working with a small army of volunteers. Volunteers can be a great asset to your organization, they are your advocates and the people who care enough about what you do that they are willing to work for free. While volunteers are filled with a depth of enthusiasm for your organization, other things may take priority in their lives (even at the last minute) over a commitment to your cause, they don’t always show up with the skill set you might need, and you may not have the time or resources to provide in-depth training.
Read MorePlanning and managing a charity auction event can often be a time of chaos for many nonprofit organizations.
Between seating arrangements and procuring items, you’ll have your hands full—and that’s just within the planning stage! Luckily, there are innovative ways to go about organizing your next charity auction.
Read MoreAccion is an international organization that seeks to achieve what it calls a “financially inclusive” world, one in which all people have access the tools and services they need to develop the financial literacy necessary to make their dreams come true. To reach this ambitious goal, Accion takes a multi-faceted approach, one which involves partnering with local financial organizations across five continents.
Read MoreNo matter what size your organization, your board of directors serves a variety of important functions, but from a fundraising perspective, a board member’s personal and professional networks can be a huge asset. Whether you’re trying to assess a prospective board member’s network or figuring out whether you can make a connection through a current board member, even a little research can go a long way.
Read MoreAt Donorly, we use a wide variety of online tools—research databases, social media schedulers, cloud storage, a CRM—but if there’s one thing we cannot live without, it’s Asana. Asana is to us what we imagine a Swiss Army knife must be to a seasoned outdoors-person: it does everything. Whether your team works remotely or all together in one room, this free tool (yes, another FREE tool!) is an awesome resource for keeping you on track and on time.
Read MoreThere comes a time when even the most sophisticated donor research tools don’t have all of the information you need, and you have to get a little creative to track down the information you want. That’s where the Wayback Machine comes in. An archive of old web pages (and old drafts of current web pages), the Wayback Machine is one of our Research Team’s favorite free-to-access tools.
Read MoreThe staff at Donorly has compiled a Labor Day reading list—four books that tackle the subject of management and leadership in the nonprofit world and beyond!
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