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Issue 75 Welcome to the new year, fundraisers! It feels good to be starting fresh, even if our first big snowstorm of the season has slowed things down a bit over here in DC. But a gentle start to the year may just be the best way in. I hope you were able to rest and enjoy the holidays, and I hope you’ve been staying healthy and safe as we navigate another wave of illness. My thoughts are with you all. Scroll down for some awesome fundraising content to get your minds turning with ideas for 2022! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 73 Whew! Here we are, rounding the final quarter of 2021. I hope you have found some time to rest amidst holiday celebrations, year-end fundraising, and prep for 2022. We’re so close. Hoping you and your loved ones stay healthy, safe, and well-rested. In our penultimate Fundraising Weekly of 2021, we dive into fundraising tips to end the year strong, major gift challenges for the year ahead, how to master monthly giving, and more. Dig in! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 72 Happy Tuesday! This weekend, as I was walking around the DC holiday market in Penn Quarter, churro in one hand, gifts for my family in the other, I was reflecting on some of my favorite seasonal traditions. Whether you like to take holiday light tours, make old family recipes, or simply enjoy time away from your computer, I hope you are looking forward to something in these final few weeks. They are sure to fly by! For this week’s newsletter, we take a look at practical strategies for retaining donors after Giving Tuesday, explore why you should consider a communications calendar, and forecast fundraising trends to follow in 2022. Enjoy! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 70 Today’s the day! Giving Tuesday is here and all of your hard work, tedious plans, and strategies are about to pay off. Though today may be the single most important calendar day for fundraisers, we know that it is only the beginning of the mad dash to the end of the year. Remember to slow down, connect with loved ones, and enjoy some delicious food when you can! If you have a spare moment in your busy day, I hope you’ll check out some of these awesome blog articles and resources— the learning never stops! Wishing you all much fundraising success! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 69 It may be a short work week for some of us, but it certainly isn’t any less busy! In fact, as a fundraiser, this week may bring one of the heaviest workloads you experience all year. With Giving Tuesday just ONE week from today, make sure you double check all your fundraising to do lists. Then, most importantly, check in with yourself and your rest. You’re a rockstar, and I’m rooting for you! I’m excited to share more great content this week. Read on for advice on retaining donors after virtual events, important reminders for expressing donor gratitude during the holidays, and a webinar about making better fundraising asks. Cheers! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 67 The clock is ticking and Giving Tuesday is now just three weeks away. There’s still time to make the most of this de facto start to the nonprofit end-of-year giving season. Here are 6 tips to help you design an effective Giving Tuesday landing page. Whether you choose a simple landing page or a full website, there are some practical things you can do to drive more visitors to your page and increase donations. In other fundraising news, we have a lot for you in this week’s newsletter. Scroll down for some grassroots marketing basics, nonprofit storytelling tips, and a complete year-end fundraising calendar. Happy reading! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 66 Happy Tuesday, fundraisers! Can you believe it’s already November? With Giving Tuesday just four weeks away, there is no denying we are now deep into the busiest time of the year for nonprofits— and particularly for fundraisers and development professionals. Hang in there, find some ways to celebrate the season, and let’s make these last two months count! Curating this week’s newsletter was a lot of fun. Scroll down for some awesome content about major gifts, donation pages, digital donor retention, and more! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 65 Good afternoon and happy Tuesday! In exactly 5 weeks, Giving Tuesday will be here— so the countdown begins! (I’m sure the countdown actually began a while ago for many of you). What tips or resources have you found to be the most helpful in your year-end fundraising strategy this year? I’ll be sure to share them, as there is still time to spread the knowledge. Feel free to respond directly to this email! Speaking of year-end fundraising, are you wondering how to leverage matching gifts this year? Trying to come up with creative and meaningful ways to thank your donors? Curious about how to leverage stories to increase your appeal? All of that is covered in this week’s newsletter! Dig in! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 64 Happy Fundraising Tuesday! Recently, my team created a new Slack channel for sharing the music that we listen to throughout the work day. It’s really been keeping me going lately! What kinds of music or artists do you like to listen to while you work? Or if you’re like me and sometimes find music distracting, you may want to check out myNoise. This site (another recommendation from one of my awesome coworkers) has seemingly endless ambient noise tracks. But enough of my tangent! We’ve got some great stuff for you in this week’s newsletter, particularly when it comes to donor relations. Read on to learn about donor renewals, secrets to keeping your donors, and those things your donors wish you would do more of. Enjoy! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 63 Mid October is here and I am sure you are already deep in the whirlwind that is year-end fundraising. Take a deep breath. You’re going to make it. I don’t usually point to resources that aren’t free to the nonprofit community…but I can’t in good conscience pass up the opportunity to tell you about one of our affordable solutions that can help lighten your workload through this busy season. :) The Soapbox Engage Donations app allows you to build an unlimited number of beautiful, mobile-friendly donation forms to accept online gifts. Real-time donation form integration with your database also greatly cuts down on overhead, and stores critical donor data for easy relationships down the road. If this sounds like just the kind of tool you need, learn more here or start a free trial. If it’s not in your budget? No fear! I’ll keep sending weekly fundraising content that will help you optimize your time and maximize your results! Happy fundraising! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 62 Happy October to all you fundraising superstars! I know this final quarter of the calendar year tends to be the most packed and stressful, but I hope you’re able to slow down enough to enjoy the changing seasons, personal transitions, or whatever you may be experiencing in your life right now! I do love this time of year, and I am grateful to live in a geographic location that gets so colorful around this time— it certainly helps with the shorter and shorter days! I’m excited for you to dive into this week’s newsletter. We’ve got loads of great content ready for you. Learn how to improve email deliverability, how to raise more money with less donors, or how to live a more balanced life in this high-stimulation, digital world. I hope you find something that aligns with your needs and interests. Have a wonderful week (and month)! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 61 Greetings wonderful Fundraising Weekly subscribers! I hope you have eased into your work week and are perhaps enjoying some nice weather wherever you are located. It has finally started to cool off in Washington, DC! When curating this newsletter each week, I try to select a wide range of content to appeal to fundraisers of all levels and needs. This week, we have everything from fundraising 101 to more focused content like building donor relationships through volunteering. But my question for you is: What content do you find most helpful? Are there subjects that you wish you’d see more of? Let’s make this the best newsletter for you! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 60 Happy Tuesday! Today happens to be one of my favorite days of the year, all because of an Earth, Wind & Fire song that goes, “Do you remember, 21st night of September?” I recommend giving “September” a listen to add a little groove to your day! This week’s newsletter has loads of excellent content. Check out some creative ideas for your next gala fundraiser, learn how to make your fundraising appeal stand out, or organize a virtual scavenger hunt to raise funds or awareness for your cause. You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 59 One of my favorite things about the fundraising community is your endless creativity and commitment. Would I ever have personally used fishing as an allegory for fundraising? Nope! But does it make so much sense now that I’ve read Claire’s blog post? Absolutely! I guess it makes sense. To be a good fundraiser, you need to understand how to keep campaigns fresh and engaging. And you probably have a good grasp of how giving is an essential part of human relationships— and relates to just about everything (not just nonprofits and year-end fundraising campaigns). All that to say, thank you for your continued inspiration! I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter. You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 57 As we say goodbye to August and welcome September, I have my mind on all my favorite soothing fall activities— be it apple picking or gathering around a campfire with friends. Here in DC, we get a colorful display of autumn leaves, and I’m already noticing a few of them starting to change. Amidst these calming images, I know that the change of seasons also means it’s time to brace for the most hectic time of the fundraising year. If there is anything the Fundraising Weekly can do to support you in this four month dash to year-end giving, please drop me a line! I will happily take content requests or any other feedback. And remember, you’ve got this! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 56 Happy Tuesday to all the fundraising experts, newbies, and learners of all levels! As we start to wrap up the summer, I hope you have some final fun plans on your calendars. Personally, I’m looking forward to a long weekend spent in France! But for now, back to business! This week’s newsletter is complete with advice on how to source year-end stories (yes, you should already be thinking about those), ideas for how your board can fundraise, how to avoid burnout in the digital age, and more. Check it out! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 55 Happy Fundraising Weekly Tuesday! We recently picked up quite a few new subscribers, so I wanted to say, “Welcome to this community!” We are thrilled to continue growing and sharing the wealth of information around fundraising, philanthropy, and nonprofit success. In the spirit of sharing knowledge, I’d like to highlight this awesome, free guide to online fundraising. (It may look familiar to some of you long-time Fundraising Weekly subscribers.) Check it out to learn all about the three key elements of effective fundraising— storytelling, relationships, and optimization. Enjoy! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 54 Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope this week has been treating you kindly. It’s another travel week for me— I’ll be flying out of Lake Tahoe on Thursday! I’ve relished my time here with family and some top notch views, but I’m ready to get back to my home base, Washington, DC. I’ve got some fun celebratory actives planned for this weekend, and I hope good things await you all as well. In this week’s newsletter, dig into some great information on nonprofit event management Learn some corporate partner strategies that hold up during a pandemic. Or determine if you are a “farmer” or a “magician” when it comes to fundraising. Enjoy! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 53 And this week’s Fundraising Weekly is coming to you live from…Lake Tahoe! That’s right, I have found my way back to the west coast to spend some time with family. I will be here for another week and a half, so if you are familiar with the area and want to send me some great hiking or restaurant recommendations, I am always excited for new experiences! Feel free to give me a reply. As always, this newsletter has been carefully curated to ensure you have the latest and greatest on all things fundraising. There’s something for everyone, with topics like CRM systems for nonprofits, foundation grants, digital marketing, and the future of virtual events. Enjoy! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! Issue 52 It's incredible, but it’s true: today is the one year anniversary of the Fundraising Weekly! When I started this newsletter, I heard from fundraisers around the globe, all trying hard to stay afloat during an unprecedented global pandemic. It made sense to consolidate all the best practices I learned, all the great ideas to pivot fundraising events, and share them with the community. A year later, and with an incredible and growing community of fundraising beginners and experts, I'm continually impressed with our community's ingenuity and creativity. It's been a pleasure to highlight the great work of fantastic fundraising professionals, consultants, and leaders, and I'm rolling up my sleeves for another great year knowledge sharing ahead of us. Thank you for the opportunity to hop into your inbox every week. If there's anything I can do to make this newsletter more useful and impactful, just hit the Reply button and holler. Congratulations on joining me for this journey, let's keep up the good work! You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today! |