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What techniques have you used to sound more assertive when doing cold calls with prospects?
Hello, I recently had great training regarding fundraising prospecting and cold calling. My background is programs and customer service and my feedback was that I sounded like a recording and I could be more commanding. I was giving energy that said "you can get rid of me." It was a great lesson because I realize I need a…
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Outside Funding for an Employee Emergency Relief Non Profit
Hi, we are a nonprofit employee emergency relief fund helping our employees across the US through unforeseen financial hardships. We are proudly funded by employees for employees but would like to be able to learn if there are any outside funding/grant opportunities that we could explore to help with our limited funding.…
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What are best practices when establishing a new 501c3 funding arm for an existing nonprofit?
I'm working with a nonprofit in "Start-Up" mode that has actually been established for about ten years, but is now seeking new sources of funding (they were primarily funded by a single donor). Now that we've applied for a separate 501c3 as a "Friends Of (name of nonprofit)", what are our best practices for explaining this…
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Nonprofit Q&A Webinar: How to Communicate for Good - April 27, 10:00 am MT
REGISTER HERE Thursday, April 27 | 9 am PT / 12 pm ET | 60 minutes In our upcoming sector education webinar on April 19, Communicate for Good: Raise Awareness, Revenue, and Impact One Word at a Time, renowned communication expert, speaker, author, coach, and University of Washington professor @EricaBarnhart will share…
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How to Successfully Onboard New Subscribers to your Nonprofit E-Newsletter (+ Recording)
Watch the recording: Email is critical to your organization's fundraising and marketing efforts. As a one-to-one communications platform, email is a great way to build relationships and eventually convert subscribers into donors. That entire process starts with onboarding new subscribers via your website. In this webinar,…
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Four Trends that will Impact Nonprofits in 2023
"The nonprofit sector should anticipate a year of economic uncertainty amidst the threat of a looming recession in 2023. Organizations with a solid risk management strategy will be best positioned to survive and thrive. Nonprofits will need to contend with many challenges in 2023, including labor shortages, inflation,…
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Naming Rights for a Capital Campaign
If you are building a new building, and using a capital campaign to fund it, what percentage of the total goal do you require as a donation for naming the building? Thanks! Kent
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Dispelling 5 Common Fundraising Myths (and webinar recording)
What have you found to be fact or fiction when it comes to fundraising? Watch the webinar, and share below!
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How/where to find and connect with new prospective major donors
Hello! My organization is relatively young (not yet 10 years) and we're just establishing a major gifts program. We want to connect with prospective HNW donors, especially in the NYC area, but struggling to figure out how to find them and land meetings. Any ideas, tips, tricks? Groups to join, events to attend, etc? Thanks!
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What tech skill helps you the most in your job?
Hi folks! I'm the presenter for Foundant's webinar this Thursday, September 29, on tech skills for marketing/fundraising/communication professionals in nonprofits. To get the conversation started, I wanted to ask you what tech skills you lean on most. What's the tech knowledge you have or the thing you know how to do that…
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How and when do you plan for year-end giving?
Supplemental conversation about our webinar with @KristinRaack, Planning for Year-End Giving Now to Minimize Stress and Maximize Results.
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Texting service
Hi all, I am looking into a texting service to communicate with volunteers, share information about nonprofit events and fundraising. Does anyone use one that they like? Thanks!
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New offering: Boost your email efforts in 5 minutes a week- for free!
Email is critical to a nonprofit's success. It helps with fundraising, marketing and much more. It's a great tool for connecting with individuals, building relationships and converting subscribers into donors. I am thrilled to share with you a new project launched in partnership with Foundant Technologies: The Weekly SEND…
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Mind the GAP – how gift acceptance policies make you the superhero
I recently wrote a blog that you may find interesting. If you don't have gift acceptance policies, you should. If you do, have you reviewed them recently and do you follow them? This is a quick and informative read. Kent Kent C. Weimer, Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® Director of Trusts, Estates and Gift Planning…
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Casual coffee with a potential donor
What do you take with you when invited for coffee by someone who would be a potential donor?
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Connection-Based Strategies to Maximize Donor Giving
Let's use this space to continue the conversation about the strategies discussed on our webinar: How do you break through "donor fatigue" in annual donors? What are you doing to drive deeper connections with mid-level donors? How have you uncovered the "hidden gems" of larger gift-givers in your database using the art…
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May 15th is the Deadline for filing your organization's 990
Just a friendly reminder that May 15th (which is on a Sunday), so technically May 16th is the deadline for submitting your 990 to the IRS. If your 990 isn't quite finished, don't panic, it's easy to request an extension. Here is the web address for IRS Form 8868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time To File an…
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Career Paths in Fundraising & Development
What do you perceive as the next step in your career path in fundraising or in the nonprofit field?
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10 Facebook Best Practices for Nonprofits
Interesting tidbits on social media marketing from Nonprofit Tech For Good. Would love to hear about your success (and sometimes not success), utilizing social media for your nonprofit. https://www.nptechforgood.com/101-best-practices/10-facebook-best-practices-for-nonprofits/
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Annual Reports
Wondering if any of my grant professional colleagues are responsible for their organization's annual report. We hadn't done one in years and just did the first after many years last year. I'm working on this year's and wondering when you send yours out- what month? Do you include an ask in the Annual Report or have it be a…
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2022 Social Media Plans and Strategies
Hello Nonprofit Friends. I was just reading an article about 2022 State of Social Media for Nonprofits and would be interested to learn what your YOUR social media strategy success plan is for 2022? Are you sticking with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or are you branching out with TikTok? Are you using social media for…
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What's the biggest challenge of online fundraising today?
Hey, Foundant Community. Hard to believe we've been living in this mostly virtual world for two years now?(!) It's changed so much of how we all work and deliver our services, and it looks like things keep changing. What are you guys seeing as your biggest challenge when it comes to fundraising now? The competition for…
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2022 Fund Development Planning-- opportunities? challenges?
As you prepare for 2022, what fundraising opportunities and challenges are on your mind? What process helps you create a solid annual plan for the year?
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Five Creative Virtual Fundraising Ideas
What virtual events have you held?
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Having a gratitude attitude
Hi everyone! I know how hard organizations work on crafting their fundraising appeals. And yes, I feel the pain of having 7 different managers read the ask and add their comments/edits. (As a friend says: Writing by committee is where good fundraising goes to die.) Let's talk thank you's: Expert advice is to prepare your…
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Philanthropy and Federal Tax Legislation—A Look Around the Congressional Corner
In this article, two leading experts in philanthropy, Robert F. Sharpe, Jr. and Sandra Swirski address proposed tax changes that may significantly impact philanthropy. Are you talking to your donors about how tax changes and legislation will impact them? Some nonprofits have begun to see a silver lining in the current…
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Using Agile in Your Fundraising Teams
I'm so excited for today's webinar about using Agile methodologies in fundraising teams! Two of the things I'm excited to hear from YOU about during the webinar and here in the discussion afterward are: 1 - What are the impediments that you see in your team related to breaking down communication silos? 2 - What are the…
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How is your fundraising different in 2021? What are your biggest challenges?
All- Excited to lead a webinar on resilient fundraising strategies in 2021 this week. As part of that, I'd love to hear from you all. How has your nonprofit fundraising evolved in the age of COVID-19, and what are the biggest challenges you face? If you had a magic genie lamp and could wish for any kind of support (aside…
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Outlook for Philanthropic Planning 2021
We live in a different world. The events of the last 12 months are unprecedented. Take a look at this insightful article on philanthropy in the year ahead. Kent C. Weimer, Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® Director of Trusts, Estates and Gift Planning Parkland Foundation
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Should employees be asked to become donors to the organization they work for?
Heck no! Heck yeah! When it comes to employee giving, everyone has an opinion one way or the other. But the issue itself is not a clear cut and dry one. It covers a wide range of topics including fundraising, storytelling, grant writing, Board giving and much more. Based on a survey I conducted in 2019, I have a published…
