Let’s face it. Summer is not often a great time for fundraising. Kids are out of school, families go on vacation, and you are far from the momentum of end of year giving. But that doesn’t mean you should stop trying to engage donors. Here are some things to keep in mind to keep your fundraising hot all summer long.

1) Go where your donors are. If you work at a nonprofit in a city such as New York, you know that many donors head for the Hamptons for the summer. In Colorado, people head up to Aspen, Telluride and other beautiful places. Why not have an event out there? Although many donors will not be interested in meeting you during the summer, you can try to go to them so they are more inclined to spare an hour or so.

2) Wish them a happy and safe summer. It is not the end of the world if you don’t get meetings during the summer (and if you work somewhere that has a weekly goal, run for the hills yourself). If a donor is too busy, wish them a happy summer and tell them you will reach out to them in the fall. Maybe keep them posted on events via email, mail, or social media. If a donor is not available, don’t be a nag!

3) One great way to reengage donors if you work at a nonprofit that helps children is to have a ‘back to school’ event. Invite your major donors and their families to a kid-friendly event after school gets started up again (wait a few weeks so your event doesn’t conflict with all the craziness of back to school). Parents are always looking for a way to engage their children in philanthropy – make your nonprofit the one they want to support.

4) Plan ahead. If you know that your donors head for the hills in June, be as proactive as possible in April and May to get in meetings before they disappear. That way you won’t be panicking all summer about your lack of communication.

5) Enjoy the summer yourself! Plan events with the development staff and other org staff that get you out of the office to enjoy the sun! There will be plenty of time to get down to business later.

Happy Summer!

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Donors are people. And people like options.

by fundraiseme on March 1, 2012

One of my must do things before traveling is to review my seat assignment on an airplane. I realize that most people select their seat upon booking, but many of us are given seats depending on which website we use to book a flight. I like to log in to my account and review the available seats to determine which one is optimal for me – sometimes I feel like an aisle, sometimes a window. Bottom line, I like that I have the option to decide.

I believe that the best thing we can do for our donors is to make it easy for them to give by providing them with several options on how they can make their gift. Would they prefer to join an affinity group with their gift? How about a restricted gift to a specific program? What about both? I realize that general operating support is extremely important to every organization (and often the hardest to bring in), but maybe we should be thinking about how to encourage our donors to give to gen ops by offering to split their gift between that and something else they care about. I think the Whitney Museum in New York does an excellent job of this by allowing donors to curate their membership.

By customizing the donor experience, they are ensuring that members get to experience the museum as they wish – not as the fundraising staff wishes they did.

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Why fundraisers could use a little humility

by fundraiseme on February 20, 2012

I was shown this video at a recent Salesforce.com training. I think it really speaks to our need to not take ourselves so seriously in fundraising (as well as in sales). At the end of the day, we are just talking to people about a cause we believe in. Plus, there is a reason there is the word ‘fun’ in fundraising, right? Ok, now I sound like a Mary Kay salesperson…

Not every person will connect to your cause – and that’s ok! Thank them for their commitment to any cause that is making the world a better place, and move on. And remember the SW Theory:

SW Some Will
SW Some Won’t
SW So What?
SW Someone’s Waiting

Happy FUNdraising!

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