Soapbox Engage Blog

Issue 83

Hey wonderful fundraiser! Welcome to March, with the promises of spring just around the corner. Here in DC, we had our last sunset before 6pm for the season just days ago. On to more warmth and sunshine!

Keep reading for this week’s pick of the best fundraising content. We have great topics like 2022 economic considerations for fundraisers, how to balance your appeal messaging, and even what Wordle can teach us about fundraising! I’m certain some of you have been enjoying that trend!

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Great Fundraising Posts

Turn Your Nonprofit Social Media Followers into Donors

Tim Forbes (Soapbox Engage)

Social media can be a central part of attracting and retaining current and potential donors. Still, it's not enough to create a social media account and wait for the donations to start rolling in. It requires a bit of strategy and and effort to understand how to leverage the power of social media to help boost your overall fundraising. This blog offers some wisdom and insights from industry experts to help you convert social media followers to donors!

The 2022 Nonprofit Outlook for Inflation, Monetary Policy, and More

Steve Orr (NonProfit PRO)

As we continue to wonder what the economy and stock market will do with the pandemic,inflation, unrest in Europe, and other global factors, the author of this blog regards 2022 as an opportunity for cautious optimism rather than fear or hesitation. With a background in the financial industry Steve shares a few observations on the present financial moment that are relevant to nonprofits.

Where Are All My Stories Hiding?

Mary Cahalane (Hands-On Fundraising)

By now you're probably convinced that stories are a powerful key to fundraising success. But it can be challenging to know where to find good stories, especially for development professionals who have been trained to judge work using metrics. But there are stories behind all those numbers. This blog offers some ideas for building a bank of good stories you can use in your fundraising efforts.

What Wordle Can Teach Us About Fundraising

Jeff Brooks (Future Fundraising Now)

Wordle is an incredibly popular online word puzzle game and this simple, compelling game does teach us something about fundraising. While Wordle may look like a guessing game, it's actually a knowledge-gathering challenge. You win by paying attention to the facts and applying logic. The same is true with fundraising. Head over this this short blog to learn a bit more about how to become an expert at gathering facts and applying logic in fundraising.

How (and Why) an Organization Goes from 3 Appeals to 9 Appeals

Steven Screen (The Better Fundraising Company)

Organizations that send out many appeals throughout the year probably didn't start out that way. They had to work up to that number and develop their processes. Additionally, most organizations that grow in this way tend to follow a growing process. This blog includes a graphic to help illustrate that growth process and how you can lead your organization through it.

Stories You Tell Make or Break Your Fundraising Goals

Lori Jacobwith (Ignited Fundraising)

Most development professionals know that stories can make or break your fundraising goals. Whether you're using them at benefit auctions, in newsletters, or in other nonprofit communications, it's critical to choose the right stories and tell them effectively. This blog unpacks some key insights about how to use stories effectively, especially at benefit auctions (but the principles apply to most fundraising contexts).

9 Questions to Help You Align Your Mission, Fundraising, and Marketing

Sara Pickett (Get Fully Funded)

Email remains the marketing channel with the highest return on investment, bringing in about $40 for every $1 spent. It's alos the most effective fundraising channel. That means that most effective fundraising starts by growing your subscriber base adn using email more effectively. When you factor in that the average nonprofit loses betwee 22% and 30% of email subscribers over the course of each year, that means you need to grow your audience by about 30% each year to maintain your email list. How do you attract that many new subscribers? This blog will help you consistently add new subscribers to your nonprofit email list!

Question of the Month: What’s an Acceptable ROI for a Major Gifts Program?

Richard Perry and Jeff Schreifels (Veritus Group)

Many nonprofits don't know what to expect or how to measure an accurate return on investment for their fundraising programs. For major gifts, the ROI is impacted by several factors, but teh reality is that it takes tim efor a major gifts program to reach a maure ROI. Check out this question of the month video where Richard and Jeff share more about what kind of ROI to expect from your major gifts program!

How to Balance Doom & Gloom with Happy and Hopeful in Your Fundraising Appeals

Julie Cooper (Moceanic)

It can be very difficult to communicate specific financial needs without sounding doom and gloom. On the other hand, there's all kinds of content that nonprofits publish regularly. Each piece of content serves a specific purpose and some content can serve multiple goals. This blog unpacks critical details that will help you determine the tone to set in different content and how to balance your tone–from "doom and gloom" to "happy and hopeful" in a healthy and honest way that will motivate and educate your donors.