iMarketSmart

JUNE 22, 2020

Competition is fierce and everywhere. Nonprofits don’t only compete with other nonprofits. They also compete with private sector businesses and Uncle Sam (the tax collector) for every donor’s “share of wallet and attention.” Plus, donors want non-exclusive, polyamorous relationships with organizations. In other words, they will decide when they’ll cozy up to other charities. Of course, you can influence their decisions, but you can never control them. You are at a disadvantage.

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Automation Opt-in Class Opt-out 130

iMarketSmart

JANUARY 2, 2020

Leadership is NOT about ‘managing’ people, bossing them around, or being a tyrant and it ISN’T about showing people how great YOU are either. Instead, it’s about helping coachable people that have passion and character become great.

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iMarketSmart

JUNE 1, 2020

A couple of weeks ago, my longtime friend Dr. Russell James presented his top recommendations for fundraisers to consider especially during the coronavirus era. If you missed the event, don’t worry. You can view the recorded webinar and download the slides here.

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Ideas Major Donors Rules Podcast 130

iMarketSmart

MAY 4, 2020

Before we begin. The 2020 Major Gift Benchmark Study asked people working in nonprofit organizations (n=580) what they consider to be a major gift, how they are staffed to raise major gifts, the types of information used to identify major gift prospects, and more. Study respondents were also asked if their organization met their annual major gift fundraising goal.

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Benchmark Prospect Studies Major Donors 133

iMarketSmart

MARCH 31, 2020

Don’t Panic. It’s the first rule of crisis management. When we panic we make bad decisions. Many of us have been facing closures, lockdowns and other extreme measures around the pandemic for almost a month, and every organization is thinking about how they can cut nonessential costs. A lot of nonprofits are letting panic cloud their long-term thinking. Let me say this loud and clear so everyone at the back of the room can hear me: Your fundraising team is NOT a nonessential cost.

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Outreach Benchmark Major Donors Survey 140

iMarketSmart

JANUARY 20, 2020

“Have you read this one?”. “Zach, hold on I didn’t even finish the other articles you sent me yet.” ” I guess I was being a bit overwhelming. Okay, yeah, I’m sorry. It’s just there is SO much out there on DAFs right now. It’s hard to keep up.”.

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California January Proposal Philanthropy 151

iMarketSmart

MARCH 29, 2020

We are going to get through this, and history proves it. For many of us, this is not the first economic downturn we have seen in our careers.When we look at the Great Recession of 2008, giving declined only slightly. The Giving Institute Foundation (Giving USA) found that total giving dropped by 7.0% in 2008 and by another 6.2% in 2009. However, as a percentage of GDP, giving fell minimally, dropping from 2.1% in 2008 to 2.0% in 2009, 2010, and 2011. .

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Recession Oklahoma Fundraising Fundraiser 138

iMarketSmart

FEBRUARY 19, 2020

There’s a theme to major and legacy gift fundraising. You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to uncover it. It’s the importance of relationship building. At the root of every major or legacy gift made there’s an intimate and undoubtedly deep connection between a donor and the organization.

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iMarketSmart

FEBRUARY 5, 2020

Relationships building is part art, part science. And, as we all know, raising major and legacy gifts is all about building meaningful relationships. Over the past few years, the strategies and tactics nonprofits employ to raise major and legacy gifts has evolved and changed, and with good reason.

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Sales And Marketing Tactics Insert Prospect 141

iMarketSmart

NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Nonprofits tend to get addicted to transactions. Of course addictions are hard to break. But that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be broken at all.

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Best Practices Best Practice Funnel Fundraising 200

iMarketSmart

JANUARY 29, 2020

“I owe a great deal of thanks to the person who invested in planned giving 15 years ago.”. I was sitting in the crowd at the 2019 ANA Chicago Nonprofit Conference, listening to the presentation titled “Retaining Your Sustaining Donors” when my ears perked up.

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iMarketSmart

MAY 12, 2020

Nearly ten years ago I made a new friend. It started out with an error. I wrote a blog post about the link between childlessness and planned giving. But I screwed up my math. Dr. James reached out to ‘help’ me catch the error and we struck up a dialogue via my blog. At that time I was just beginning to pivot my business. We were a marketing agency helping private sector CEOs generate, qualify and prioritize leads for relational sales.

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Resources Free Charitable Sales And Marketing 109

iMarketSmart

JULY 21, 2019

Let me know what you think about my top 10 reasons why some fundraisers might be uncomfortable making the ask : 10. They are in the wrong job and should be doing something else; 9. They are poorly trained (or not trained at all) and, therefore, don’t know how and when to do it; 8. They don’t truly believe in their employer’s mission ; 7.

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Training Trust Mission Jobs 149

iMarketSmart

AUGUST 23, 2018

Greg interviews Erin Troia about her “Engagement Fundraising” experiences. Erin recently finished reading an advanced copy of Engagement Fundraising and tried out some of the concepts she read about in the book. Learn more about MarketSmart at [link].

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Link Experience Fundraising Fundraiser 182

iMarketSmart

DECEMBER 5, 2019

Click here for the free comprehensive guide for donor-advised funds. Trends come and go, but donor-advised funds are forever. I’m not quite sure that’s the quote, but I think it goes something like that.

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Guide How To Peer-to-peer Charitable 130

iMarketSmart

MARCH 4, 2020

Google search “fundraising metrics” and you’ll find plenty of blog posts and articles. In fact, you’ll come across too many. It can be overwhelming to figure out what fundraising metrics your nonprofit should track and measure. No two websites seem to offer the same suggestions, making it difficult to know what’s really worthwhile. Fortunately, the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) has come to the rescue (sort of).

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Metrics Average Measure How To 116

iMarketSmart

NOVEMBER 5, 2018

Here’s my list of essential major donor needs that you must aim to fulfill: 1. Your best donors want you to do the important work they can’t or won’t do. Your best donors want you to give them the credit and praise for your achievements. They want to be the hero in the story, not you.

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Best Donors Objectives Fulfillment 169

iMarketSmart

APRIL 1, 2020

This is part 3 of 3 in a series. For the first post, go here and for the second post, go here. Engage and offer, don’t ask. We’ve been hearing from a lot of organizations over the past few weeks, and many are putting a total hold on communications to their donors. I would encourage you to do the exact opposite. . Donors are getting bombarded with information and opinions from the media, the government, their friends, their family, social media — you name it!

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Tactics Contingency Vertical Recession 109

iMarketSmart

AUGUST 5, 2019

This is a first! I’ve never had anyone write a guest post for my blog. But when I saw what Daphne Powell was doing to grow relationships with her donors, I reached out to her to see if she might consider telling you her story. So, here goes… Introducing Daphne Powell and her magical use of photo books for donor stewardship. Hoooooorayyyyy Daphne! Connecting with donors through photo books. By Daphne Powell.

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Photos Ideas Belize College 140

iMarketSmart

MARCH 31, 2020

This is part 2 of 3 in a series. For the previous post, go he re. Kill self-doubt. Some in your organization might be saying things like: “Our major donors’ investment portfolios have been decimated. There’s no way they’ll give.” I want to help you quash this negative train of thought right now. First, while that might be true for some of them, you’ll want to remember that many wealthy people didn’t get there by being stupid.

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Correlation Major Donors Auction Healthcare 109

iMarketSmart

DECEMBER 3, 2018

I simply love inspirational quotes. Here’s one I recently came across from Thomas Edison. He once said, “The successful person has a habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do.” ” That led me to think about calling donors.

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Best Practices Best Practice Best Plan 164

iMarketSmart

MAY 20, 2020

Stewardship Series Effort. When it comes to legacy gifts, many organizations spend too much time focused on uncovering hidden gifts or closing more of them. Sure, it’s important to find out who planned a secret gift and to inspire donors to make planned gift disclosures. But, believe it or not, closing legacy gifts is just the beginning of the fundraising process, not the end. That’s because most legacy gifts are revocable and many people change their plans near the end of their lives.

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Product Tools Microsite Blasts 100

iMarketSmart

MAY 2, 2019

I think fundraisers should recognize that donors are playing a lifelong game of musical chairs. The people you consider to be YOUR donors are circling around many other charities and, from time to time, they ‘sit’ with one that engages them properly and makes them feel good. Then, when the music starts playing again, they go around and around until they find another charity and take a seat there for a while.

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Donors Telemarketing Spam Fundraising 149

iMarketSmart

OCTOBER 15, 2019

In case you couldn’t tell from the title of today’s blog post, we have some exciting news to share with you! MarketSmart is the newest member of The Giving Institute. Founded in 1935, The Giving Institute has served as one of the most influential and important organizations advancing leadership and ethics in philanthropy and fundraising in our sector.

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iMarketSmart

NOVEMBER 19, 2018

Recently I saw a question posted on a discussion board that was inspired by a blog (NOT mine) titled: WHY YOU NEED TO HIT YOUR DONOR’S MAILBOX FIRST THING IN 2019. The question was: Planned/legacy giving marketing – when do you mail? Here’s the response I posted.

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January Best Best Practices Best Practice 158

iMarketSmart

MAY 21, 2019

Engagement calling, not cold calling! About 1 1/2 years ago I introduced the concept of Engagement Calling as the best way to land appointments with highly qualified, major gift donor prospects (much better than cold calling). But back then I failed to provide metrics for managing the process. So, today, I’ll lay them out for you. But before we dive into that, it’s important to remember that most supporters will not be ready to make a gift right away.

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Associations Association Outreach Major Donors 138

iMarketSmart

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

I think too many in the nonprofit sector fear failure. Unfortunately, that paralyzes people. It prevents them from making decisions and thwarts innovation. In most cases it isn’t the fundraisers fault. They want to take risks. But, unfortunately the leaders, the board or the media make fundraisers feel like they can’t. They always seem to be lurking, waiting for failure so they can jump in shouting, “How dare you waste money!” and that thwarts risk-taking which leads to innovation.

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Best Practices Best Practice Lead Leads 144

iMarketSmart

JULY 26, 2019

This email wasted my time and annoyed me because… I don’t know this person. I don’t know this organization. I didn’t give her or them permission to email me. I have no connection whatsoever to this cause or this organization.

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CAN-SPAM Examples Spam Permission 126

iMarketSmart

APRIL 29, 2019

From bad to worse. When I first saw the pictures of the flames engulfing Notre-Dame, I thought to myself, “That’s terrible.” ” But now, that the fire has been extinguished, I’m feeling like something else is even worse. In the aftermath of the destruction, people from all walks of life have been making comments about the philanthropists stepping forward to repair and restore the 856-year-old cathedral in Paris. Many of those comments have been negative.

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Netherlands Government Chicago Charitable 133

iMarketSmart

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

Every profession has its fair share of jargon. Fundraising, and nonprofits in general, are no exception. Fundraising terms, acronyms, and jargon are as varied and valid as any other industry. As professionals in this field, we certainly have a wide-ranging glossary of phrases at our disposal. Five years ago I began my career in nonprofit fundraising. As you know, there’s a lot to learn when you get started (we’ve all been there).

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Income USA Charitable Industry 100

iMarketSmart

JULY 16, 2019

I think most campaign feasibility studies leave a ton of money on the table. Here’s a hyper-simplified description of how it usually works. You hire a consultant. Together, you conduct the feasibility study and review the results. Then, you make a decision on whether or not to go forward with the campaign. So what then? What about the supporters who helped you come to that conclusion? Prior to conducting the study, did you prepare a plan to give to them after they helped you?

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Campaign Studies Money Touchpoints 122

iMarketSmart

NOVEMBER 18, 2019

This guest post on year-end fundraising stats is from Nathan Hill at NextAfter. Every development professional understands the importance of year-end fundraising. The key to success at year-end is equally as well understood, but much harder to execute: to actually be seen and heard by your donors during one of the busiest times of the year. Here are 5 quick online year-end fundraising stats that can help you cut through the year-end fundraising clutter with your communications.

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Stats Help Campaign December 109

iMarketSmart

JUNE 6, 2018

She told me others would say I was unprofessional. I was asked to lead a roundtable discussion at a conference recently. So I did. And afterward one of the attendees approached me as I got a cup of coffee in the sponsorship expo room. She said, “Greg, I really enjoyed your roundtable discussion but why on earth did you curse… twice? Don’t you worry that people will say you’re unprofessional?”

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Words Best Practices Best Practice New Jersey 156

iMarketSmart

NOVEMBER 13, 2019

I hear the following all the time when I ask fundraisers about their efforts to land meetings with major and legacy donors: “I tried calling, but they didn’t answer the phone,” they say. So what’s really happening here.

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Major Donors Telemarketing Television Linkedin 109

iMarketSmart

JULY 23, 2018

We’re getting pretty good at marketing rollover IRAs here at MarketSmart. Here are some of the things we’ve learned as we’ve crafted a value proposition that generates massive amounts of money for good causes.

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Charitable Donors Distribution Rules 151

iMarketSmart

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

How many decisions do you make each day? A quick google search yields our answer: somewhere near 35,000. That number may seem intimidating, “How can I make 35,000 decisions a day?” You might find yourself pondering. Research shows that we utilize a variety of techniques to help guide us through our daily lives.

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Guide Distribution St. Louis Free 109

iMarketSmart

OCTOBER 31, 2018

I think buying and donating are the same. Here’s why. When I give money to a charity, I am buying: A chance to be moved by someone’s story in an emotional way. An opportunity to feel I’m not powerless in the face of need and can help (this is especially true during disasters).

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Charity Donations Band Best Practices 141

iMarketSmart

OCTOBER 29, 2018

Generally here’s how I leave messages that get returned: APPRECIATION: I say ‘thank you’ (and I get sort of ’emotional and gracious’ in my tone… without going overboard). It’s important to convey emotion so you sound relatable… human!

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Examples Effective Effectiveness Sales 141

iMarketSmart

JUNE 11, 2019

A few weeks ago I hosted a webinar about Fundraising Climate Change (a term I developed some time ago and included in my book titled Engagement Fundraising ). In the webinar I presented a ton of data supporting my claim that the fundraising environment has been shifting and the storm clouds have been gathering. I believe that, finally, the day of reckoning is upon us and too few organizations are ready.

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Environment Trust View Rate 122

iMarketSmart

JUNE 27, 2018

I know, change is hard. But I think too many people are afraid of change and disruption when they really should be afraid of being afraid. After all, the only thing we can truly depend upon is change. So why not embrace it? Or, why not take it one step further? Here’s what I mean.

How To 151

How To Best Practices Best Practice DC 151

iMarketSmart

OCTOBER 22, 2019

If you had $58B, you would be among some interesting company. 58B represents more wealth than Larry Page and Michael Bloomberg, but not enough to surpass Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos. Here at MarketSmart we certainly don’t have $58B sitting around, however we are privileged enough to have access to $58B in anonymous donation data from the 5,500+ users of our free Fundraising Report Card.

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Donations Benchmark Cards Software 109

iMarketSmart

OCTOBER 17, 2018

Too often I’ve seen some ‘fundraisers’ do whatever they can to avoid actually talking to donors. “I can’t call ’em yet. I’m waiting for the wealth screening.'” ” “I really should send a letter to first.”

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Donors Best Practices Best Practice Political 141

iMarketSmart

MAY 29, 2019

For decades, fundraisers have sought a ‘magic box’ to identify the most ideal donor prospects for outreach, relationship-building, and solicitation. Of course they do. Who wouldn’t want one? With a ‘magic box’ a fundraiser could become much more efficient and effective. They’d be able to zero-in on the best donor prospects, call them up, land a meeting, build a relationship quickly, solicit a gift, close it, and take a victory lap around the office.

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Donors Vendor Prospect Firm 122