The other day I received an email from the admirably and voraciously curious Simone Joyaux attaching the 2018 Global NGO Technology Report listing the “10 Most Effective Tools” for online use by nonprofits around the world. Simone asked: “Do you believe the nonprofits are “correct”? MORE

It’s a yearly exercise – take what you did for your direct marketing program last year, replace some controls with the tests that beat them, and set up your tests and tweaks for the next year. Lather, rinse, repeat. This system has advantages. You know what each communication is capable of, and what it isn’t. The communications in most need of fixing get the most attention. You have donors who responded to these appeals in the past and are more likely to again. It’s efficient. MORE

Photo Via Beverly Yuen Thompson on Flickr. Today on CauseTalk Radio , Megan I talk to Allison Robinson , Founder, The Mom Project and Brian Zellner , Recruiting Manager at BP , about BP Returnship Program. MORE

Monthly donor or sustainer programs are a relatively low-effort and high-impact way to increase donor retention and donor lifetime value, while also providing a steady and predictable stream of revenue that can help your nonprofit better budget and plan for the future. MORE

While the importance of having a social media presence is relatively well understood, pinpointing the how, where, how much, why, and for whom can be paralyzing for small nonprofit organizations and school communications teams strapped for resources and time. MORE

Decent Humans is what we call the incredible community we witness on CrowdRise each and every day doing amazing things for good. And each month, we’re going to highlight a Decent Human in the nonprofit world that’s devoting their time and passion to giving back and making a difference. We hope that by sharing their stories of aid, altruism, and passion, others will be inspired to make an even greater impact on the world we live in. Decent Humans MORE

Learn about the top fundraising metrics, why they are important, and what questions you should be asking that these metrics can help answer. Download the Metrics That Matter eBook found for free at FundraisingReportCard.com/book. Download your copy to follow along and find some tidbits we didn’t have time to cover on today’s episode. Click here … Continue reading "Fundraising Metrics 101 (Season 1, Episode 2)". MORE

Kelley McGeehan is Principal Consultant and Owner of McGeehan Research. She is a prospect researcher and in this episode we get a chance to explore why prospect research is valuable, the consideration continuum, why some organizations fail even with the right data at the right time and much more. You can find Kelley at www.McGeehanResearch.com. MORE

If you’re competitive like me, you probably want to see how your organization compares to its peers. Now you can do that in seconds, for FREE! My team took all the data from our Fundraising Report Card (2,600 organization’s transactions) and built a nifty little live benchmarking app. MORE

Nonprofit Communications Is Changing. But Are You Changing With It? Yes, nonprofits are supposed to help the world, but that doesn’t make them immune from making huge mistakes and hurting people. MORE

Elyse Meardon is proud of her work with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN) - and rightfully so. As managing director of CMN’s signature dance marathon program, she and her team are stewards of the fastest growing peer-to-peer fundraiser in the country! MORE

I am on a mission to help nonprofits of all sizes become better communicators. This is the third part in a multi-part series on nonprofit storytelling designed to show nonprofits the most effective ways to amplify their stories using digital storytelling techniques. Click for part one and part two. MORE

Here’s what’s happening. Everyone’s a fundraiser now. Because we are seeing a maturation of online fundraising, a greater availability of crowdfunding platforms (550+ at the last count) and a deterioration of the social safety net. MORE

Elyse Meardon is proud of her work with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN) - and rightfully so. As managing director of CMN’s signature dance marathon program, she and her team are stewards of the fastest growing peer-to-peer fundraiser in the country! MORE

What type of donor database do you have, or do you even have one at all? If you’re using Excel instead of a database because it’s free, stop doing that. A spreadsheet is not a database. Your Worst Fundraising Enemy. MORE

What better way to end the week than with Dilbert; sent along by the ghost of Tom Belford who hovers like a hawk over The Agitator. MORE

“I had a meeting with the chair of trustees. The meeting did not go well. As we were walking away from the meeting, he put his arm around me and squeezed me to him whilst saying “this would all be so much easier if you were just friendlier, Jane.”. “He MORE

Once you’ve made the decision to search for a new CRM for your nonprofit, the task can seem daunting. A new solution will need to offer all of the unique features that you require, taking the specifics of your organization’s size, structure, and mission into account. MORE

T his week, the CrowdRise team has descended upon New Orleans to eat some po’ boys and attend two of the biggest nonprofit fundraising conferences of the year: The 2018 International Fundraising Conference and the Nonprofit Technology Conference , from April 11th through April 17th. And, lucky for those who couldn’t make it, we’re live-blogging our favorite fundraising sessions along the way. (So So sorry you can’t download the po’ boys to enjoy at home.). MORE

Angel Mills. Welcome to our latest installment in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators! This series lets you describe your workday in your own words. We’d love to feature YOU in this series! MORE

T his week, the CrowdRise team has descended upon New Orleans to eat some po’ boys and attend two of the biggest nonprofit fundraising conferences of the year: The 2018 International Fundraising Conference and the Nonprofit Technology Conference , from April 11th through April 17th. And, lucky for those who couldn’t make it, we’re live-blogging our favorite fundraising sessions along the way. (So So sorry you can’t download the po’ boys to enjoy at home.). Events Marketing MORE

Monarch. Kansas City, MO. Photo Credit: Deena Davis. It’s that time again! Are you ready for the best articles, posts, tips, and more from around the world of marketing and fundraising? It’s time for Mixed Links…. MORE

Thanks to guest blogger Rachel Carnegliaa, a nonprofit marketer and graphic designer promoting parks, trails, and green spaces at the Austin Parks Foundation. . Hey, I have the inside scoop on Facebook, from Facebook (take it with a grain of salt, I guess), and I want to share it with you. MORE

I’ve been through rebrands. I’ve been through prostate exams. And I know which I’d rather go through again. That’s why when the question “what does donor identity mean for a rebranding organization?” MORE

I’ve been thinking about ways to work with you and your team on getting #CALMnotBUSY since the book came out, and I’m declaring Summer 2018 as the Summer of CALM! We’ll launch the free online book club and also a brand-new team coaching program in June. MORE

Learn why Donor Acquisition Cost is so important, how to gather this data, and how to use this data to make better decisions. Mentioned in this episode: DAC Cheat Sheet: [link] DAC Excel Calculation Template: [link] What is overhead: [link] Expenses: [link] Click here to listen on YouTube! Topic Timestamps Donor Acquisition Cost [01:40] What is … Continue reading "Diving in with Donor Acquisition Cost (Season 1, Episode 3)". MORE

As our team settles into post-conference life, we're looking back at a whirlwind of a week spent in beautiful New Orleans for one of our favorite nonprofit conferences: the 2018 Nonprofit Technology Conference. Here's a recap of all the fun! Booth Buzz. Fortunately, we snapped a picture of our booth before the crowds assembled. MORE

CALM communications directors are Collaborative, Agile, Logical and Methodical. Ready to find your top CALM strength? Take the new quiz! Don’t see the quiz? Take it here. Why should you know your top CALM strength? I’m a “build on your success” kind of person. So if you know where you are strong, I suggest you take advantage of that strength first as you work on being more CALM. We’ll give you suggestions for next steps after you take the quiz. MORE