On Wednesday, I’ll be moderating a panel of distinguished visual marketing experts at the Social Tools Summit in Boston. My panel is entitled: “ Pics, Videos, and Infographics, Oh My! The Future of Visual Social ” – one of my absolute favorite topics. MORE

In a recent post , marketing maven Seth Godin observes: “The status quo is not kind. It works overtime to stay the status quo.” ” He goes on to talk about the difficulty of challenging the status quo and comments: “…rules only exist to maintain the status quo.” ” To that Roger and I give a vigorous “AMEN!” ” But not everyone is destined to be a loud tub-thumper. MORE

Giving Tuesday is coming on Nov. Are you ready? If not, here are Ideas , Events and Additional Resources (like Social Media Toolkit and Press Release Template) to get you started. MORE

It depends. I find myself saying, “It depends” quite a lot these days. But, seriously, the decision to target market to financial advisors depends on the nonprofit that employs you. If you work for a Community Foundation, I’d say almost 90% of your marketing should support your efforts to meet and build relationships with local estate planning professionals. MORE

Measuring the effectiveness of your nonprofit communications work is hard. But you can figure it out! We’ll show you how. Join us tomorrow for a BRAND NEW webinar series: Measuring the Effectiveness of Your Communications Work. Presented by Kivi Leroux Miller. October 17th and 19th. 1:00 p.m. MORE

On today’s episode we discuss fundraising consultants and why you as a fundraiser should consider hiring one. Check out the How I Built My Fundraising Consultancy Podcast on Apple Podcasts , Google Play , Stitcher and other podcast directories. MORE

Today on CauseTalk Radio , Megan and I talk to Laura Swapp , Director of Public Affairs & Next Gen Marketing at REI , about an ambitious new campaign called Force of Nature. MORE

Some things just work best when coupled together. Peanut butter and jelly. Toothpaste and a toothbrush. Cookies and milk. Soap and water. Simon and Garfunkel. Get the idea? Donor retention and donor qualification. Similarly, you shouldn’t consider donor retention without involving donor qualification because there’s no sense in spending time and effort on retaining donors without a qualification strategy in place. Retention efforts cost money. They are sophisticated too, so they cost time. MORE

Year-end fundraising season is upon us. This is the busiest time of the year for most organizations and you need to plan carefully. If you just send one fundraising letter and then wait for the donations to pour in, you’re in for a rude awakening. MORE

Jeff Brooks wrote a marvellous post reminding us fundraisers that our job is inspire, not describe. His post triggered all sorts of associations in my mind, vaguely connected to ‘inspiration’ but still somewhat weird … that’s the way my brain works! First, he got me thinking seriously … about the relative impact of framing things positively versus negatively. MORE

Hard to believe but #GivingTuesday is only a little over one month away! Is this powerhouse giving day right for your nonprofit? Participation numbers and dollars raised skyrocketed last year, and are sure to increase even more in 2017. MORE

For nearly two decades Operation Warm has had a simple mission: to provide children in need with the gift of brand new winter coats. The nonprofit works directly with manufacturers to create their own line of warm, colorful winter coats made just for kids. MORE

Nicole Warren. Welcome to the latest installment in our series on the “Day in the Life” of nonprofit communicators, where we ask you to describe your day in your own words. We’d love to feature YOU in this series! MORE

I’m teaching two new webinars on measuring the effectiveness of nonprofit communications this week. In the course of doing the research, I found three items that you might also find interesting. There’s a whole association dedicated to communications measurement. MORE

Think about the last time you secured a really major gift, or completed an especially productive direct mail or email campaign. When you left the meeting or put the phone down or read the response data, what was your dominant feeling? Satisfaction at materially advancing your nonprofit’s mission? A warm glow from helping the donor(s) achieve their goals? Pride in your own fundraising prowess? Each of these is legitimate to celebrate. MORE

Zambra. Asheville, NC. It’s the end of another week so join me for some fresh Mixed Links… Find out How to Smash Your Blogging Goals in Just 5 Days (although the tips here would work with all kinds of goals). MORE

Today we’re chatting with Paul De Gregorio about what is called integrated fundraising campaigns. MORE

She was really ticked off because they wouldn’t accept her gift. One of my customers got the following response to a survey request: “Why on earth would I respond to this survey when the gift of property I offered to the university was declined (which I sold within the year for $150,000.00). In my opinion your refusal speaks to the shortsightedness and ineptness of those who review such proposed gifts.” ” Wow! MORE

The most basic attribute of good fundraising webpages is simplicity — don’t ask for anything extraneous to ‘closing the sale’, pre-populate donor information when available, require as few clicks as possible. Make it easy, easy, easy. MORE

Don’t fool yourself in the belief that “since I work on a July to June fiscal year I have lots of time to meet my goals.” That may be your fiscal year, but donors go by the calendar. And we’re fast running up to that time when nearly 30% of all nonprofits raise between 25 and 50% of their annual funds through year-end campaigns. Here are some practical and technical resources to help you make the most of the next critical 75 days by taking steps right now. Don’t delay. MORE