10 key characteristics of top performing fundraising directors

Fundraising Directors are crucial for success. This incredible mastermind, known as Head of Fundraising in some countries, is in control of a massive budget and responsible for providing the organisation with the resources to do what it is supposed to. If you know how complex fundraising management is, you also know the sheer power of the Fundraising Director. (S)he controls information, makes everyday decisions, prioritises activities, inspires the team and sets the overall direction. At least, that's what they should...

10 things I would tell my younger self

The other day a starting fundraiser asked me for general tips and tricks on how to improve his fundraising skills. It got me thinking: what would I tell myself if I was able to go back in time? In random order a list of 10 things I would tell my younger self.

opinion, the fundraiserReinier SpruitNovember 18, 2017why, investment, data analysis, mentor, Yoda, donor experience Comments

18 ingredients for successful fundraising

I’m celebrating my 15 year anniversary as a fundraiser!

In a blog post 5 years ago I wrote about the best strategic ingredients for a successful fundraising program. Let’s try that again and see if I want to change my perspective now I’ve grown older…

Fundraisers are gold. Quality fundraising staff makes all the difference. Without the right staff you can forget the rest of this post. And your fundraising results. Hire great professional fundraisers. Now.

4th Annual Fundraising Growth Analysis

Oops, I did it again. Like previous years I sliced and diced the Central Bureau of Fundraising (CBF) annual figures into some sort of growth analysis for the Dutch market.

Perhaps I should not repeat the methodology and disclaimer, because you’re probably not gonna read it anyway. Most of you scroll straight down to the tables below to see where your organisation is ranked. But let me just mention the main points before we dive into the figures.

The BIG 5 in fundraising performance metrics

You might love it. You might hate it. But if you respect your donors and your work as a fundraiser you are likely to spend a few hours per week looking at reports. Those reports will tell you all sorts of things about the behavior of your donors, a.k.a. your fundraising results. But, in general, what are the most important fundraising performance metrics you should monitor? Keep reading and get your free download at the end of this post.

What I'm about to share seems somewhat simple perhaps. This is in fact not simple; these are the basics! Unfortunately too many fundraisers out there still don’t respect the basics.

data analysisReinier SpruitMay 9, 2014data analysis, data, metrics, ROI, lifetime value, retention, acquisition, example

Legacy income in The Netherlands 2003-2012

Today I'll zoom in on legacy income. First we'll look at the available figures from the CBF from the last 10 years.

To give you an idea of the growth trend of the market I've selected 121 organisations that reported their legacy income both in 2003 and 2012.

This group reported a legacy income in 2003 of nearly EUR 178 million. The same group reported a legacy income in 2012 of almost EUR 235 million. Almost the same as the year before.

Crystal ball fundraising: Lifetime Value

Some time ago on the KISSmetrics blog a case study was shown on how to calculate the Lifetime Value of your customer (let’s say donors in our case). You might have seen below infographic already, but it’s such a great and clear example I want to make sure as much fundraisers as possible have seen it.

data analysisReinier SpruitSeptember 26, 2011lifetime value, acquisition, data analysis, data

FREE: 10 years of fundraising experience!

Exactly 10 years ago, I started my first job as a fundraiser! And from the beginning I was hooked. I love fundraising, because it enables change. Vision and passion combined with great fundraising enables important change. And as a fundraiser you play an important part in that change.

So, looking back over those 10 years, what did I learn? I’ve listed the most important strategic ingredients for a successful fundraising program.