Soapbox Engage Blog

Issue 85

Greetings fundraisers! To those of you affected by Sunday’s ‘Spring Forward,’ hopefully you’re adjusting to the time shift and enjoying an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day. I’ll take the sleepy start to the week if it means later sunsets!

By the way! If you’re looking for more fundraising resources beyond this weekly newsletter, be sure to give us (Soapbox Engage/PICnet) a follow on LinkedIn! We post free resources, guides, webinars, blog posts, and community events to our page regularly. And we would love to hear from you and maybe even team up to bring more fundraising goodness to the community!

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Great Fundraising Posts

Digital Marketing Tools for Every Nonprofit

Tim Forbes (Soapbox Engage)

As a nonprofit fundraiser, it's critical to ensure you're reaching your supporters in the spaces they use most frequently–both digitally and in real life. The right digital tech solutions make life easier and work more fun. There are loads of free and affordable online tools to help you connect with your audience and save you time, energy, and resources.

5 Direct Mail Fundraising Roles You Need to Run a Successful Campaign

Tracy Howard (NextAfter Blog)

Whether you use an agency to manage your direct mail appeals or you handle it all in-house, there are five essential roles that you need to have filled. Otherwise, you run the risk of your campaign getting delayed or derailed. Check out this blog for an interview with Karen, who has decades of managing projects and appeals for nonprofits. Over the years, these five roles remain essential to direct mail fundraising success.

A Look at Generational Giving Donor Trends and Influences

Duke Haddad (NonProfit PRO)

Each generation thinks, acts, and views philanthropy through different lenses. There are distinct cultures, values, and thoughts and it's imperative that nonprofits create strategies and approaches to prospects through knowledge of generational philanthropy. There are five generations currently alive and this blog will help you gain an understanding of different generational traits.

Attitudes and Skills that Foster Major Gifts Success

Jenn Shefcik (Fired-Up Fundraising)

There are many elements of a successful fundraising strategy. A key factor is a mindset. What's going on in the heads of everyone on the fundraising team can dramatically influence the success or failure of a fundraising campaign. Attitude can make or break fundraising. This blog offers insights into some attitudes and mindsets that are essential for successful fundraisers.

5 Rookie Mistakes Fundraisers Sometimes Make

Jeff Brooks (Future Fundraising Now)

There's so much to learn and get a handle on when you're getting started as a fundraiser. And even veteran fundraisers make plenty of mistakes. But this short blog highlights five common mistakes that rookie development professionals make in writing fundraising content.

Give Complaints the Attention They Deserve

Steven Screen (The Better Fundraising Company)

Do you have a process for handling complaints? It can be easy for smaller nonprofits to find that they don't give complaints the appropriate amount of attention. And that outsized attention almost always guarantees the organization won't grow as fast as it could. This blog offers some insights about how many nonprofits typically handle complaints and some suggestions for a more appropriate way to navigate them.

You Don’t Need to be in Crisis!

Marc A. Pitman (The Fundraising Coach)

With everything going on over the last few years, it seems foreign to be worried that you won't be able to raise more money because your nonprofit isn't sufficiently in crisis. Some boards or nonprofit leaders find themselves worried that when they have good reviews and the finances are well managed then they won't be able to raise more money. When this happens, it might feel tempting to add another initiative or program to fundraise toward. But this can often lead to "mission creep." Keep reading about how to navigate not being in crisis in a healthy, balanced way!

How to Build a Story Arc for a Non-Profit Fundraising Campaign

Vanessa Chase Lockshin (The Storytelling Non-Profit)

Story arcs play a vital role in nonprofit narrative development. We often focus on individual stories and use them in fundraising communication but zooming out from individual stories can help nonprofits see that each story (and every fundraising and communication piece) is part of a larger story arc or narrative. This blog offers more insights about story arcs and how to use them in fundraising campaigns.

10 Essential KPIs for Measuring Fundraising Success

Jack Showers (Joe Garecht Fundraising)

A KPI is a "key performance indicator" and it's what helps you understand what's causing your success. These insights will help you understand how results have evolved over time and how to further improve. Wise nonprofits use KPIs to better understand fundraising efforts, find areas for improvement, and create a more impactful fundraising strategy. Learn more about what KPIs are valuable in this blog!