NonProfit Life

Hi Reader, Most volunteers don't quit. They just never really start. Someone signs up on a Tuesday feeling great about it, hears nothing for eleven days, and by the time you circle back the feeling is gone. That gap is where you lose people, and it's the cheapest thing on your whole list to fix. Here's what I'd send in the first week. 1. A confirmation within 48 hours. Even if the shift is six weeks out. Date, time, exact address, where to park, which door, what to wear, who to text if...

Hi Reader, The first time a donor asked me this, I felt like I needed to play defense. I started in on overhead ratios and program allocation, and I watched her lose interest in real time. It wasn't an accusation. She was interested! She wanted to know if her money mattered, and I answered her with a pie chart. Here's what I say now. A specific number. Not a percentage. "Your $500 helped cover three months of transportation for two families." Donors don't think in percentages. They think in...

Hi Reader, Here's the ask that never works: "If anyone knows someone who might be interested in supporting us, please let me know." Everyone nods along. Everyone means it. Nobody moves! The ask went to the whole room, so it belonged to no one. Here's how I'd do it instead. 1. I do the research before I ask. I look at one board member's employer, their alma mater, the other boards they sit on. Then I show up with two or three names I already believe they know. The ask stops being "think of...

Hi Reader, As crazy as it seems, August is probably the last quiet-ish month you'll get (I say "quiet" knowing full well that yours isn't!). From September on it all lands at once - fall appeal, board meetings, events, year-end... Most advice will tell you to use August to get ahead. Here's what I'd do instead: use August to get lighter. 1. The report nobody reads. You know the one. You build it every month, you send it out, and nobody has ever asked you a single question about it. I'd ask...

Hi Reader, My first job in fundraising, I didn't even realize was a fundraising job. That sounds ridiculous, but I wonder if you can relate. A new board member who wants to support your local community, a newly promoted Executive Director, even a parent at a school wanting to give their kids the best. You probably didn't realize when you signed up that you would be fundraising, and yet here you are! For me, I was completely overwhelmed and had no idea how to track and manage everything. I had...

Hi Reader, I've had an influx of people reaching out for advice as they navigate searching or hiring in the nonprofit/philanthropy/social impact space. So I finally did what I've been meaning to do for years, and that's put together my list of free job resources that have been helpful to me over the years. For some reason, I was compelled to post this on LinkedIn and it went viral! Okay not viral...but viral for me, who never posts. But 21k+ impressions feels like a lot! Plus, other people...

Hi Reader, By this point, you probably know that ChatGPT and Claude should not be used for searches that you could easily google, or simple drafting. There are much more effective ways to use AI! Here are the 3 things I've stopped doing manually and have handed off to Claude (my preferred AI): Donor research and creating donor briefs. This alone has completely revolutionized my schedule. I used to spend hours researching donors, looking up their networth and estimating their capacity. Now, I...

Hi Reader, Some days, fundraising feels like shouting into the void. You send an appeal and hear nothing. You reach out to a prospect and get ghosted. A grant you worked on for weeks comes back declined. And somewhere in the back of your mind, a voice starts asking: is any of this actually working? I've been there. And I've talked to enough fundraisers to know this isn't a rare feeling - it's a regular one. The work is hard and the feedback loop is slow. Of course it gets heavy sometimes....

Hi Reader, I'll be honest with you: most board fundraising documents are too long, too complicated, and too boring for anyone to actually use. I've seen 20-page development plans that sat in a shared Google Drive, opened twice a year by one board member. I've seen detailed spreadsheets that were outdated before they were finished. And I've watched executive directors spend hours creating materials that didn't move the needle on board giving or board engagement. Here's what actually works: one...

Hi Reader, When most nonprofits think about corporate support, they think about event sponsorships. A table at the gala. A logo on a banner. A check in exchange for visibility. That works. But it's not the only way, and for a lot of small and mid-sized nonprofits, it's actually one of the harder asks to make, because not every organization has an event worth sponsoring at a price point that makes sense for local businesses. Here's what I've found works even better: start with what they care...