Fielding Solicitors for a Campaign Team

Introduction Just as sports teams are built around the players’ abilities and strengths, so too are campaign teams. And when a team needs a particular skill or asset, the coaches can either try to develop it among their current players or, more likely, recruit or draft for that ability. The four fundamentals of a campaign…

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Because You Can

Success is relative, but perfection is precise! What for one organization or person would be an extraordinary performance, for another is disappointing. It’s all relative to the standard with which something is compared. Years ago, I participated in a panel discussion during a board retreat for a very well respected regional arts festival. They were…

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How to Balance Nonprofit Needs and Resources

Nonprofit organizations invariably suffer from limited resources and a small staff trying to do the work of many. The resulting workload, as well as the personal connection many executives feel toward the group’s mission, can cause staff members to focus their attention within distinct boundaries. True objectivity can be clouded by fierce loyalty and passion…

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Asking for, and Receiving, Money

Whether you’re fundraising for nonprofit organizations such as the YMCA or raising money for your own organization, it’s vital to know how to properly ask for and receive money. Money doesn’t grow on trees, nor does it drop off like leaves in the fall! If we need monetary contributions to help a worthy cause, we…

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Anniversaries and Capital Campaigns: A Winning Combination

Is your organization celebrating a special anniversary in the near future? Are you considering a capital campaign? If you answered “yes” to both of these questions, you have the potential to increase awareness of your organization and add or upgrade donors! The celebration of your fifth, tenth, twentieth or another anniversary can attract increased media…

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Boosting Your Campaign’s Annual Support

Have you recently found yourself in charge of running or developing your organization’s annual fund campaign? Are you looking at ways to bolster your annual support? Do you ever wonder if your organization is pursuing the most effective path to raising annual support? No matter which stage or circumstance you find yourself in, taking a…

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Buying Locally Doesn’t Always Pay

Development directors for non-profit organizations are often laden with the responsibility to determine how to raise greater and greater amounts of money to help balance their organizations’ ever-growing budget. The most popular and traditional means employed is to increase the goal of the annual appeal. For a number of reasons—the economy, reduced governmental funding, weak…

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