Best Practices for Clean and Accurate Nonprofit CRM Data

A team of business professionals review clean and accurate nonprofit CRM data.

A constituent relationship management (CRM) system is the backbone of your nonprofit’s operations, housing vital information about donors, volunteers, beneficiaries, and more. However, in order for your CRM to be useful, the data inside of it must be clean and accurate.  In this guide, we’ll explore four best practices for managing and maintaining data. Whether…

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How Holiday Shopping Fundraisers Can Help Your Nonprofit

This photo is of a young couple sitting on a sofa in front of a Christmas tree as they do their holiday shopping together on a laptop.

The end of the year and holiday season is critical for nonprofit fundraising. Approximately 30% of annual donations to charitable organizations occur in December, and 12% are made just in the last three days of the year! Given these statistics, it’s important for your nonprofit to strategically plan for this busy giving season. Many organizations…

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3 Necessities to Consider When Soliciting a Gift

In everyday life, asking for financial support or soliciting a gift is something many of us struggle with. When confronting someone with such delicate requests, we ask ourselves questions like: The truth is, asking for financial support is challenging in any context, and in many cases, the answers to these questions vary greatly. Here at…

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Advocacy 101: Where to start

This week, I’ll be attending Habitat for Humanity’s Habitat on the Hill event in Washington, DC. I started attending years ago, when I worked for a local affiliate in Tennessee, and it remains one of my favorite events of the year. We’ll be celebrating the successes of Habitat affiliates around the country who have enhanced the…

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Campaign Meetings with Sizzle . . . and Efficiency

The first questions potential campaign volunteers pose often focus on time. Typical time commitments include prospect communication such as calling to set appointments, writing door-opener and follow-up letters, and actually making visits. These are time-consuming activities, and volunteers usually understand that they are essential and that only they can perform these duties.

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Why are Campaign Report Meetings Important?

Capital campaigns are remarkable undertakings that require extraordinary effort from those involved, including the fundraising professionals who design and implement the campaign, as well as the organization’s professional staff, donors, and volunteers. This article outlines the steps involved in campaign report meetings for a large, membership based organization. In this type of campaign, a handful…

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Eighteen Lessons on Leadership

Every one of us has leadership roles to assume. Wherever we are leaders, the position, by its very name, demands we provide the best influence possible for others. But how do we learn to be a leader? General Colin Powell has written eloquently on his view of leadership in “A Leadership Primer.” While his views…

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Personal and Professional Development — Dreams and Contentment

I feel sorry for people who have never learned how to celebrate the ordinary; who live their lives under the sad illusion that happiness is just beyond their fingertips. “As soon as I find my soul mate… get out of debt… find a better job… then I’ll be happy.”

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