Soapbox Engage Blog

Issue 196

Happy Tuesday, Fundraisers! It’s hard to believe it’s already time to say goodbye to April, but I’m ready to see what the next month has in store!

This Thursday, we’re going to take a look at the Soapbox Engage Shop app and how e-commerce can benefit your nonprofit by adding a new revenue stream. Whether you plan to sell merchandise, subscriptions, or memberships, the Shop app makes it easy. Plus, a recent release added support for selling digital products (think ebooks, online courses, content libraries…). Hope to see you there!

Scroll on down for your weekly dose of fundraising goodness!

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Great Fundraising Posts

How to Determine Your Needs When Choosing a New Fundraising CRM

Aurora Virtanen (The ENGAGE Blog)

Choosing a new fundraising CRM is exciting–but also needs careful consideration. When embarking on a technology project, you should always start by outlining the key purpose behind the investment. This blog post shares questions you should answer to help you kickstart the process.

Tips for Developing Successful Websites for Nonprofits

Luke Dringoli (NonProfitPro)

Developing or redesigning a nonprofit website can be a stress inducing task for nonprofit organizations. There tends to be a lot of pressure on creating the perfect website, and then once it’s launched, no one wants to look at it again—which is not a recipe for success. In this blog post, Luke offers several tips to help you develop a successful website with less stress.

How (and Why) to Give Donors Permission Not to Donate

Jeff Brooks (Future Fundraising Now)

It may seem counterintuitive, but it’s important that you give donors “permission” not to donate. In this blog post, Jeff explains how highlighting their autonomy in this way may actually make them more likely to donate.

You Better Have the Ask Ready

Marc A. Pitman (The Fundraising Coach)

In this blog post, Marc argues that fundraising isn’t just about relationships as is often said. Rather, it’s about mutually beneficial relationships. To ensure a mutually beneficial relationship, you need to have something ready for your donors when you meet with them beyond just “catching up.” He explains the 2-3 asks you should have ready.

A Practical Lesson from Star Wars: How to Raise 2 to 5 Times as Much from Real-Life Donors

Jeff Brooks (Moceanic)

You can get fundraising lessons from the most unlikely of places… even Star Wars! In this blog post, Jeff explains how a practical lesson from Star Wars creator George Lucas can help you raise more money from your donors.

Top 5 Mistakes: #3 Chasing Younger Donors

Bill Jacobs (Analytical Ones)

You’ve likely seen a lot of studies and advice about the need to pivot your attention to the younger generations, rather than the older generations who likely make up the majority of your donors. In this blog post, Bill argues that chasing younger donors is actually a mistake that won’t help your fundraising.

The Most Important Fundraising Metric: The 20 Year Relationship

Jim Langley (Market Smart)

When looking for indicators of fundraising success or struggle in the future, one major indicator is the number of donors who have given for 20 years or more. However, many organizations have not established this as a benchmark. In this blog post, Jim explains why that is the case and how to rectify it moving forward.

Answering Your Donor’s ‘If Only’ Question (#6 of 6)

Richard Perry (Veritus Group)

While many of your donors are happy to support you on a regular basis through the months and years ahead, there are quite a few donors in your active donor file who want to do more. It’s up to you to be paying attention to their “if only” and not just accepting where they are at. In this blog post, Richard offers tips to help you do that.

The Secret to Building Momentum for Your Capital Campaign

Gail Perry Group (Gail Perry Group)

No one wants their capital campaign to take a long, exhausting time to achieve the goal. Or, even worse, a campaign that never really takes off and then ultimately fails. It’s important to build momentum for your campaign. This blog post offers a secret to help you do that.