Tag: nonprofit

Helpful ideas for a nonprofit job search

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit News.

As a nonprofit fundraising consultant, I’ve been fortunate to meet many nonprofit fundraising professionals who are in the midst of a job search.

Each of them have personal reasons for wanting to leave their current position, and there are many common denominators linked to their nonprofits. That’s for another post!

At Altrui, we have had clients ask us to support their efforts in finding a new member of their fundraising team. After being a part of many searches, there are ideas I’ve come up with that will help with your current job search.

First, there are always actions you can take before you begin your search. First is to completely rock at your current position. Nonprofit fundraisers who excel with their work, are trusted leaders, and make people feel positive create reputations that make a job search so much easier.

Another action you can take now is to strengthen your professional social media presence. For me this is LinkedIn and Twitter.

Also, unless you are in an awful situation at your current job (awful can mean all sorts of things), it’s typically best to search for a new job while currently employed.

Here are some ideas to assist you in your job search.

Resumes are still important. Typos still reflect badly on candidates. Also, long resumes become boring. Use your resume to highlight experiences that are helpful with the position you’re applying for. Keep it simple, clear, and direct. A resume should not create questions.

Bring in your personal and professional circles. Let everyone close to you know that you are in a job search and let them know what your perfect new position looks like.

Have three professional references ready. Don’t send them until requested.

Be fully prepared for an interview. I can’t express the importance of this enough. Know the nonprofit you’re applying with. Know their mission and their 990. Speak to the experiences required in the job description and your success in those areas. Don’t be afraid to ask questions when you are offered that opportunity. This is especially important if concerns come up during the interview.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to apply for a position that doesn’t exactly fit on paper. Passion with purpose and expereince go a long way. I have excitedly suggested a couple of candidates that were then offered the job even though on paper it did not seem like a perfect match.

Thank you for reading! I wish you the best of luck!

Tips for an amazing conference

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit News.

Many of my colleagues and friends in the nonprofit world are in Las Vegas attending AFP ICON. I’m very new to AFP (just joined last month), and although I won’t be there I do have some ideas of how to make this conference even more amazing for those attending.

My tips for an amazing conference have mostly to do with actions to take once you get home. Conferences are filled with awesome speakers and an endless flow of information, ideas, and actions to take. What happens many times though is that, upon returning to the office, reality sets in and the business of the work takes over. Soon all of the wonderful notes, ideas, and business cards are in a drawer.

Here are my tips to help make your conference even more amazing!

First, keep track of everyone you meet. Take their card, connect with them on LInkedIn, or simply make a list to refer to. Once you get home calendar in contacts for all of them. It could be two or three a day, or a week. Don’t let all of these amazing contacts go. Reach out to them, and plan it.

Next, those notes! My last conference I typed notes right into a document. For the first time, I have actually referred to them many times. Take action on what you hurriedly typed in. Calendar ideas to take action on or meetings to present the possibility of these actions with your team.

Next, take time to connect with companies and people on social media. I am on Twitter and LinkedIn, so I focus my efforts there. If anyone I meet is on one of those platforms, I make sure I connect with them either during or after the conference.

Once social media is done, another tip in making your conference experience amazing is to calendar thank yous to people who taught you something mind-blowing or had some intense affect on you. Send a personal, hand-written note to thank them and let them know the affect they had on you.

Lastly, hold on to the excitement you felt during the conference. Don’t let anyone take that from you. If you learned a great way to plan your next direct appeal, try it!

The key with all of these is to keep the conference going, to take what you learned and those you met with you as you continue to make the world a better place back home at your nonprofit.

I hope this helps! Any questions, just email me at dan@altrui.org

Thank you fo reading! And if you’d like to see me in action at a conference, I’ll be attending the Nonprofit Storytelling Conference in San Antonio in October: https://nonprofitstorytellingconference.com/

An unforgettable thank you

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Altrui News, Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit News. Leave a Comment

Thinking about my experiences of how my organization has thanked donors, or how organizations I support have thanked me, there is an unforgettable experience that is at the top of the list.

I had made an ask of a donor who had not donated in three years. They hadn’t responded to anything I had sent. Add to this that they had donated before my time with the organization and didn’t know me.

One day I was making a call and the donor accidentally picked up the phone. They were in a rush to get out of the house with the kids, and could not speak. I asked if I could email them what I was going to speak about, and they said yes!

I emailed the ask. They had a couple of questions which I responded to quickly and soon they decided to give again. They doubled the size of their already large first gift. What a wonderful experience.

I asked my board chair to call them to thank them. This was a common occurence for me and them, so my board chair knew what to do and made the call.

The donor answered!

Immediately after the call, the donor called ME!

They said they had given hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past many years, to several organizations, and had never received a thank you call from a board chair. This of course made my heart swell, mainly because they were taking the time to thank me, and share how they felt about an action that was common place for our fundraising team.

I left that organization to create Altrui, and am ecstatic that that donor continues to generously give.

A simple thank you can catapult your relationships with your donor.

Thanks for reading!

Your fundraising plan – tips on donor retention

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit News. Leave a Comment

The basic idea around donor retention, and why I like it included in any fundraising plan, is that it is easier (and cheaper) to keep a current donor rather than try to find a new donor.

Of course we’re not talking about just one donor. We want to think about donor retention in a way of treating our donors that we have in a way that they will donate again. And again.

This post could go on and on about donor retention, and I’ll leave you with just a few ideas about what has worked for me.

First, I highly recommend a database for your donor data. There are many options, and I’m sure there is one to fit your capacity and budget. Having a database with your donor information allows you to track donations, notes, contacts, and anything involved with you and your organization building a relationship with your donors.

Next, thank your donors. When I first started in nonprofit fundraising, a phrase I heard often was “thank before you bank”. Super simple idea. These days, many nonprofits count their online auto-thank you letter as a thank you. I don’t. That’s an acknowledgement of a donation. Your donor knows you received their donation. You still want to take a step to thank them, either by letter, email, or phone call.

Find out why your donor gives. There are several types of donors, and there are also people who simply just make a donation, with no intent to really give again. An example of this is a neighbor you’ve asked to sponsor you ina 5K run for a cause. They are giving because of you, not the cause. If they give again, now you have a donor and perhaps it’s more than just you!

You also have the donor who just loves your mission. They think that what your nonprofit is doing is making the world a better place, or another way of putting it is that you’re creating a world that they envision. These are donors who are with you, and easy ones to build life-long relationships with, if you take the time to do that.

Another idea that works for donor retention is to be transparent with your donors. That means sharing the good, the not so good, and the difficult. Donors don’t always need to know how awesome you’re doing or that all you have are successes. They definitely want to know your challenges as well, along with what gets in the way of your organization being able to have the most impact. Share it all with them. Whether it’s in a newsletter, a personal email, or over lunch, keep your donors in the loop.

My last idea for now is to share your impact. As a donor, I want to know that my giving makes a difference. Your donors are the same. Let them know what you’re doing with the funds you raise and what impact that has. Even if you try something and fall short, share it. Your impact changes things, things your donors want to see changed.

There you go! Try these! I’d love to hear about how you implement them.

Thank you for reading!

Your fundraising plan – reaching out to donors

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit News. Leave a Comment

Back to your fundraising plan!

As your donors, and your relationships with them, are critical parts of your fundraising success, making personal connections with your donors are actions you can take to support your fundraising plan.

When I speak with fundraising teams about this, there seems to be a little trepidation. In our world of nonprofit fundraising, it’s not possible to build lifelong relationships with donors without personal connections, and this includes actually meeting with your donor.

This is my favorite part of the job, and a great tool for your fundraising plan. Meeting in person with a donor can be as simple as meeting for coffee all the way to having lunch and a tour of your program facilities. I’ve played racquetball with donors and gone on hikes with donors. I wouldn’t suggest racquetball unless you’re better than I am!

In our field there are still many who feel uncomfortable meeting with donors. Our work is all about relationship building, and one really needs to be comfortable with all aspects of meeting with donors. Talk out your plan with a co-worker before you meet. Play a favorite song (I do this sometimes before a big donor call). The assumption is that you know the mission, the needs, the impact of their upcoming donation, and are passionate for the cause.

Aside from meeting in person, there are several other actions that can be part of your fundraising plan that include connections with donors. Thanking them of course is important. Let them know the success of a campaign they supported. You can also call or email just to check in. Contacts that have nothing to do with asking them for another donation are super important, and help grow the relationship. Even if all you can do is leave a voice mail, that’s a good step.

Your fundraising plan doesn’t need to include every action you want to take with donors, but do create some type of calendar for connecting with them. Remember that you can include your executive director and board in these communications. They don’t all have to come from you.

Go ahead… give a donor a call or send them an email inviting them to meet. No time like the present!

Thank you for reading!

Send your next e-appeal

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit News. Leave a Comment

As time flies when we’re having fun, today is a good day to consider your next e-appeal.

What the heck is an e-appeal some of you may ask? It’s simply a fundraising appeal sent via email.

If you can’t remember when you sent your last e-appeal, this tip is perfect for you. The main idea here is to make sure you are continually asking your supporters to donate.

I like short e-appeals. The perfect e-appeal for me is a quick greeting, a current need, and then an invitation to give.

A fundraising team doesn’t need to be big, and doesn’t need to have a lot of extra time to send consistent e-appeals. Quick messages letting your donors know what your need is and what the impact of their donation will be is all you really need. You can definitely take the time to send a longer e-appeal, I’m just letting you know that if you lack the capacity to do that don’t let it stop you from sending something out. It’s better to get an ask out rather than continue waiting until you have the perfect e-appeal ready to go. That day may never come.

Here’s an idea. Calendar an hour or two to leave the office. I recently rode my bike to a local coffee house and worked on an e-appeal (see photo above). Think about what you want to accomplish with this e-appeal, who you want to send it to, and what kind of impact you want to share. Finish a rock-star draft and then head back to the office and share with your team. Done.

Of course every team cannot finish an e-appeal this simply, but you get the idea.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding your next e-appeal!

Altrui Consultancy Fundraising

Implementing your fundraising plan

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Fundraising. Leave a Comment

Your fundraising plan is finished and now it’s time to take on another perceived difficult task: implementing it! You can relax, because implementing your fundraising plan is a process, not an event.

You can start slow.

A great way to start is to send a quick note of thanks to all who participated in the plan, sharing your gratitude and excitement to begin.

Then go right into one of the first tasks. That could be one of a dozen or so action items, and I suggest taking on one that is continual throughout the year. Let’s say e-appeals.

Taking on e-appeals could mean taking a good look at your email list, checking your open rates and your click-thru rates. It could mean beginning a new process of writing e-appeals and creating a schedule of when you want to send them, and why.

The key here is to begin implementing your fundraising plan.

The only way a fundraising plan does not succeed is if you do nothing with it. You have it right in front of you know, you spent a lot of time creating it, and now it’s time to actually implement it.

Go easy on you and your team, but do proceed. For me this is one of the many highlights of being in nonprofit fundraising. Implementing your fundraising plan will not only support your organization in building relationships and raising money for your impact, it will be fun.

Thanks for reading!

Quick tips on building relationships with donors

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising. Leave a Comment

Building relationships with donors is something we focus on a lot here at Altrui, and I thought now would be a great time to write about that as we introduce our new website and welcome people here for the first time.

Fundraising is all about relationships. Regardless of your role in fundraising at your nonprofit, you can be part of the relationship building with donors.

Here are 6 quick tips for building lasting relationships with donors:

  1. First, set aside time to communicate with donors. This is not about making an ask. It’s simply checking in, sharing impact, or a quick reminder on how grateful you are for their continued support.
  2. Next, get comfortable with the phone. Call your donors. Even if you leave a voicemail you will have affect on them. Let them know of a story you just heard from the program teams. Remember to keep this all about building your relationship with them and not about asking for a donation.
  3. Another great action is to send a personal thank you note. I recently received one and it made my day. All I could think while reading the note was “good on you” for the person who sent it.
  4. We know that thanking is a huge part of building relationships with donors. I like to engage organization leadership and board members in the thanking process. For many donors, a thank you call from a board member adds another connection to the organization and mission.
  5. I also like to share news articles that have anything to do with the mission. These are easy to do, simply copying and pasting the link into an email to the donor. This is especially helpful when your organization is mentioned in the article.
  6. One last idea to help you build relationships with donors is around events. As more events are being planned, carve out some time for donors during the event. I like to have a list of donors I want to make sure I at least say hit to during the event. It definitely makes a difference if you can drop by their table to say hi, even if it’s super quick!

There are many actions you can take to build relationships with your donors. The key is to take them!

Thank you for reading!

Hanging out with the board

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development. Leave a Comment

By, board, I mean your board of directors.

By hanging out, I mean getting to know them and working with them.

You will see all sorts of opinions about boards of directors and board members. My experience is mostly that as a head of fundraising for nonprofit organizations. And it’s always been based in how can I work with them to build more relationships, spread the word about the organizations’ impact, and create sources of fundraising.

First things first, board fundraising. This seems to be the main topic at hand on social media media threads. Many of these include negative experiences or opinions on board members. It doesn’t have to be that way.

If your board is a fundraising board, it’s important to make sure they know that, and that new potential board members know. With your current board bring this up frequently and with new board members bring this up before they say yes.

Do board members need to commit to an annual, minimum donation? Just so you know, many answer yes to this question. My answer is always “it depends”. This may shock some, but in my time as the one held accountable for fundraising goals, I was much more interested in board members spreading the word of our impact, of their interest in our impact, and making introductions to others interested in our impact.

With new board members, meet them for lunch or coffee. Figure out how you can best work together. Suggest that they attend a finance committee meeting or two. Become a resource for them on all things mission.

Some board members will want to support your fundraising efforts, some may just want to write a check or fill a table at a gala. Meet them where they are at, always keeping in mind that you both have a passion for the mission and impact of the organization.

I have had my fair share of board members that I simply did not get along with. It happens. Just don’t get stuck there, and move on to relationships that are possible.

Keep in mind that your board members are volunteers, that their intentions are to support the organization in a way that works for them. They also more often than not want to have a positive impact on the mission of your organization.

The more people you can work with in supporting your fundraising and relationship building efforts the better. Your board is a great place to find them.

Thank you for reading.

Reignite your fundraising

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising, Nonprofit News. Leave a Comment

I’ve presented conference sessions called “Reignite your fundraising” and love engaging with other fundraisers and development peers about my ideas regarding what we can do to take our fundraising to another level.

Before I begin it’s important to note that although the title of this post is about reigniting your fundraising, all of this starts with you. He’s a short story about what I mean by this, one from several years back:

I recently ran into a donor who was volunteering at our office. I shouldn’t say “ran into”, as I heard her voice and immediately got up and went to greet her. I was ecstatic to see her and thanked her for a recent generous donation. Of course that wasn’t the first time I thanked her as I called her the day of the donation and then sent a thank you letter. Nonetheless it was my excitement in seeing her that made her day.

“The person before you didn’t even know my name. Every time he saw me I had to re-introduce myself.”

Reigniting your fundraising will only work if you are on board, if you have endless energy and passion for your cause, and if you are willing to be the main cheerleader.

Let’s start.

My first idea is to respond to a donor email with a phone call. You will surprise them, and your relationship with them will be stronger. In other words, you are investing in the donor relationship. Building these relationships is key in reigniting your fundraising. Try it.

Speaking of the phone, I suggest getting used to using it. Email doesn’t show emotion. A donor can’t hear your excitement over email. So call them. Once you see their donation pick up the phone. It changes everything.

Another reason to use the phone more and email less is that, especially in huge cities like Los Angeles where I live, face to face meetings with donors don’t happen as often. The phone call brings at least a little bit of a personal touch to the relationship.

More to come.

Thanks for reading.

Monthly donors

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising. Leave a Comment

We donate monthly to a couple of organizations.

They made it easy for us. The online donation form gave us the option to make our donation monthly. I checked the box and every month on that date our donation is automatic.

On the same day we receive an auto thank you.

We donate monthly because the impact of the organizations mean a lot to us, and we realize that monthly (or any type of recurring) donations mean a lot to organizations, especially smaller ones (small as in size, not impact).

For nonprofits wanting more monthly donors, it isn’t a difficult path. Give your current donors an easy option, like the one we experienced. Let donors know how a monthly donation benefits you and your mission. What is the impact? And as with any other donation, thank in a timely manner. I also like that in January we receive an email form each organization with the total of our giving for the year prior.

Aside from the clear benefits of monthly donors, one of the benefits I find most appealing is that you donor is connected with you on a monthly basis. They see you in the bank or debit card statement, and they receive that quick thank you. This gives your donor a reason to remember why they give and to be grateful for your work.

If you don’t offer monthly giving on your website, try it. Make it easy. If you don’t include the option on your appeals, try it.

It will pay off for you, those you serve, and your donors.

Thank you for reading!

The great resignation

Written by Dan Hanley on . Posted in Development, Fundraising. Leave a Comment

I read about this every day. Whether this is affecting you and your organization or not, it gives us a chance to talk about fundraising staffing and making sure your organization can be seamless in fundraising and relationship building during team transition. Any steps taken now to ensure a great process will certainly pay off.

I’ve seen many development teams go through transition and have some thoughts, that if acted upon, could make the whole process a lot smoother for you, your supporters, your team, and your mission.

Keep in mind that this post is not about how to keep an employee. This is about when that ship has sailed.

There’s a lot written about hiring right. We of course want to do that, and I’ve seen many organizations do it. And then the brand new person is not what had been imagined, or there is just not a fit. This means a few months (or less) after the hire, everyone is back to the drawing board after having spent time and money on a placement that did not work.

I’ve been there. I highly recommended a candidate. I did everything right, so I thought. There can always be a situation where one does everything right and the outcome is still negative, however what I have learned from my own personal experience is that there were things I could have done better, and different.

If I want a major gifts officer, I need to spend a lot of time talking about that in the interviews. Talking about their personal experiences, how they feel about this kind of work, and setbacks and successes they have had. I talk about expectations, not only mine but theirs. If during the conversation something tweaks me, I need to pay attention to that and talk about it.

Experience also tells me to keep job descriptions up to date. Many nonprofits are still using job descriptions from way back when, with very little in common with what the position actually looks like today. While we’re on job descriptions, three pages of what they need to do is too much. Shorten it.

Benefits matter. For people like me, a fair salary is important, and time off, real vacation time, is equally important. Why on earth would I apply for a job that offers one week of paid vacation after one year of work. No thank you. Four weeks of paid time off, with accrual beginning on day one, is a good place to start. Time off is important for many reasons and acknowledging that at the start sends a great message.

While in the process of hiring, keep in mind that the fundraising and relationship building cannot cease. Ensure donors are being thanked, communications with everyone around fundraising are continuing, and any appeals that were being planned are happening. It’s not uncommon that all of this doesn’t happen while a new person is sought, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Take your time. I know, you need someone now. Rushing this process doesn’t help.

Follow through with all candidates. I know, this can be time consuming. Even if right now you’re saying out loud “you have no idea!”, try it. No one else is doing it and you never know if a future position may be the perfect fit for someone who applied for this one.

Lastly (for now, this may become a series of posts!), be working in a fundraising plan. I see many job requirements that list creating a fundraising plan. One needs to be in place already. Relying on a brand new person to do this doesn’t make sense.

More to come. Thank you for reading!

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