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🏙️ Donor “street” research is essential

The go-to donor research tools are subscription services like DonorSearch, and Wealth Engine. They are the best tool you have - until they are not. We all have many examples of wealth estimates being wildly off,  high, and low. Why it matters: There is no substitute for what I call street research. Find out all you can about the donor ...
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🎲 Game-changer institutional self-esteem

There is a reason some organizations regularly receive 7,8, and 9-figure gifts.  They have high institutional self-esteem, and their leaders are emboldened to divine a lofty vision and inspire prominent people to join them. This is a self-fulfilling cycle that you can create for your organization. Leadership matters:  Donors consider the quality and track record of the people who lead ...
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😨 Your money bias risk

I conducted formal research over eight years with more than 400 advancement officers about determining significant gift ask amounts. They were presented with two donor case studies with 21 financial and behavioral variables. Remarkably, the suggested ask amounts from these officers ranged from $25,000 to $3,000,000! Why it matters: We were all raised with different financial circumstances, and our regard for what ...
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Should “Old School” be the “Now School” for Advancement?

We all know the saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Like most advancement professionals, I did not start my career in the early 1980s thinking I would become a fundraiser. After graduating with a Master's degree in public health and clinical nutrition, I secured a grant-supported part-time position at a new statewide food bank in ...
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NASA

Top 10 Organizational Black Holes

A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing – no particles or even electromagnetic radiation, such as light – can escape it. Not to get too geeky, but when I ran across this NASA Data Sonification of a Black Hole through interstellar gas, it got me thinking.  You might want to read the rest of this post while listening to this out-of-this-world soundtrack. Almost every ...
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/ _CRI Blog Post, #annualgiving, #capitalcampaign, #fundraisingconsultant, #fundraisingtraining, #majorgiftfundraising, #majorgifts, #plannedgiving, BLACK HOLE, fundraising, Insights, Leadership & Management, MANAGEMENT, philanthropy
Crain's Chicago Business YMCA of Metro Chicago brings in new CEO to revamp struggling nonprofit | Crain's Chicago Business Visit Creator: www.jboehmphoto.com | Credit: www.jboehmphoto.com Copyright: John R. Boehm All Rights Reserved Want to know where this information comes from? Learn more Related images See more Dorri McWhorter, CEO, YMCA Metropolitan Chicago Dorri McWhorter, CEO, YMCA

Letter to Nonprofit CEOs About Leadership

Dear Nonprofit CEO, After working with hundreds of nonprofit CEOs over 20 years as a consultant and 20 years as a frontline advancement executive, I think I can speak with credibility about the strategies and behaviors of a strong nonprofit leader. At the risk of boiling my reflections down to binary comparisons, I will do so nonetheless in the interest ...
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