DAFs Are Not Just for Major Donors
For midlevel programs, the opportunity is not simply to receive more DAF gifts. It is to make sure those gifts lead to stronger donor relationships.
Trust the Process, Part Two: Uncover What’s True to Keep Building Great Donor Relationships
The right process is not about forcing you into someone else’s formula.
Trust the Process: How a Wellness Retreat helped me take my own advice
Most meaningful transformation does not happen because someone hands you a perfect answer.
Tell Me More!
In your next donor conversation, pause before moving to the next question or topic. Try asking “tell me more.”
Love > Fear
Fear may be part of being human, but it doesn't have to be the thing driving us.
When the Donor's Agenda Needs to Replace Yours
Sometimes the most donor-centered thing you can do is put the ask away and simply stay in the conversation.
Major Gift Goal Setting Without the Drama
Sometimes better goal setting doesn’t require a more complicated formula. It just requires putting the information in the right order.
You Don’t Have to Eat the Whole Elephant Today
When we’ve fallen behind, we don’t need a dramatic reset. We just need to take the next step forward, and celebrate the progress.
When Relationship Fundraising is Really Direct Mail in Disguise
Great fundraising programs need excellent direct mail and strong relationship fundraising. They should work together. But they are not the same.
Ask, Don't Tell: What the Best Donor Calls Have in Common
Try to shift your conversational strategy: you're not there to tell the donor what her gift means; you're there to learn.
The Icky Sticky Overheard Conversations
When donors understand how people, systems, and infrastructure contribute to long-term impact, overhead spending becomes less of a lightning rod.
The Icky-Sticky Word: Overhead
Fundraisers have an important role in helping donors understand overhead spending – through honest, permission-based conversations grounded in trust.
Your Emergency Donors Went Quiet. Here's Why (and How to Bring Them Back)
Most emergency donors don't lapse because they stopped caring; they just need to feel the ongoing need.
Five MORE Fundraising Trends We Can’t Ignore in 2026
Here's our take on 5 more trends identified in recent market studies, and what they may mean for your work.
Five Fundraising Trends We Can’t Ignore in 2026
Here's our take on some trends identified in recent market studies, and what they may mean for your work.
5 Steps to Start the New Fiscal Year with a Stronger Midlevel Plan
The new fiscal year isn’t just a time to do more. It’s the time to do the right things with more focus.
From ‘Look What We Did’ to ‘Look What You Made Possible’
Marketing talks in terms of a big picture, but you can turn it on its head for donors. Show them the impact of their gift in the larger scheme.
Don’t Miss the Ocelot (hint, it’s a small cat), But Don’t Miss the Joy Either
As you’re getting to know donors, don’t focus so much on your predetermined goal that you miss the joy of the relationship along the way.
Don’t Propose on the First Date
In fundraising, just like dating, moving too fast rarely ends with a ring.