As you know I often use this quote:“We need to value donors as much as we need value from them.” I think it’s a beautiful way to express the core of our work. When I recently used it Wim Desmedt from Sightsavers Ireland responded. He shared underneath example with me. I’ve seen lots of thank you’s coming by in my career, but I think this is the most sincere thank you ever written.
Read MoreEver since I started working as an Interim Manager & Senior Advisor 5 years ago, I have been constantly thinking about how I can best share my experience in individual giving with my clients. One of the subjects that I always thoroughly investigate is my own vision on successful fundraising. I do not only ask myself whether I am doing things right, but especially whether I am doing the right things. So this is the latest version of my vision. On a beer mat!
Read MoreFundraising 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...
Read MoreIn the income analysis that I've published in December it was very clear that some organisations in The Netherlands show impressive income growth in the past decade. Compassion Netherlands, Save the Children Netherlands, Stichting Vluchteling (IRC), AMREF Flying Doctors, Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth) to name just a few. But I'd like to zoom in on one specific organisation: KiKa (Children Cancerfree).
Read MoreMany fundraisers are aware of relationship fundraising. Ken Burnett’s famous book Relationship Fundraising has opened many eyes over the last 25 years. There aren’t many fundraisers who haven’t read this book. However, its vision and core message have never been fully implemented in our sector.
Read MoreOften we hear great quotes capturing the essence of the message. They are inspiring! They remind us of the important reasons why we work for charity and how we should do it, or how best practice would describe it…
In December I attended The Annual Lectures, where an awesome line-up of speakers was challenged to deliver their message in 30 minutes. This forced them to be to the point. And I heard some great quotes.
Read MoreIf you really want to go for retention you have to record the Retention Song with your fundraising team. I’ve especially adapted Bob Marley’s lyrics for everyone to embrace the area of retention. So, just do it. Get out your camera and tape it. It will increase your retention rates by at least 20%. Trust me…
Read MoreRecently I had dinner with the 5 fastest growing fundraising organizations in The Netherlands. We were going to look beyond the market figures and get into the qualitative side of these organizations.
Why is it, that these organizations are so good in fundraising? At our dinner we had decades of experience around the table. In this post I want to focus on one particular part of the discussion that I’m sure resonates with many of you.
Read MoreIt’s not fun being a fundraiser nowadays: depressing trends like declining responses, high-cost-acquisition in combination with through-the-roof-attrition, rock-bottom-retention and charity-bashing-media… pfff, mission impossible?!
Or, is there still a bright light in the fundraising sky? Sure there is, plenty!
Read MoreThere are a trillion fundraising topics to choose from, but today I’ve chosen one I consider the most important: donor loyalty.
When I started to use Twitter I decided to tweet only about fundraising. To boost my followers I thought I'd summarize the best Tiny book in the series: Essentials of Donor Loyalty from professor Adrian Sargeant. In the end I tweeted the tiniest summary of the book ever done... in 71 tweets.
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