Issue 012

I had a chance to join a great virtual fundraising gala tonight, and it reminded me of the creativity of our community to think on our toes. With many folks working all day in a virtual meeting environment already, providing an hour of entertainment to raise money for your organization isn't easy. If your organization is looking for online gala tips, feel free to drop me a line and I'd be happy to share all the creative ideas I've heard!

Meanwhile, I've got another batch of fantastic fundraising ideas and contributions from the community to help keep you energized as you dive into the deep-end of the fundraising season. Soak in the autumn season crispness (northern hemisphere friends), cozy up in your hygge setup (definitely worth looking up), and enjoy this week's round-up of knowledge.

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Issue 011

Ah yes, autumn is here. How do I know this? Today I co-hosted a fundraising cloud services webinar (have you heard of Soapbox Engage?) and had a giant screen with a bonfire behind me, and wore a faux fur hat.

I'm not kidding. Maybe that's less about autumn, and more about welcoming the cooler weather here in the northern hemisphere. Whatever it is, I can definitely tell you by the spike in conversations that I'm having that it's definitely warming quickly into the fundraising season.

No matter which home appliance you call your desk today, keep you game face on, fundraiser. Here's a round of knowledge to go with your next batch of thank you letters!

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Issue 010

As I whisked by the blur of colors that was the autumn leaves in New England last week, it was another indicator that we're heading right into the thick of fundraising season. This holiday season will be unlike any other we've seen recently, and it's been great to read stories from our community of fundraisers becoming more inventive and creative than ever before.

I'm collecting stories from development teams that are thinking on their toes, and also looking for advice and guidance from others like them. If you're tackling some fundraising challenges, or you've seen unique success stories during the pandemic, just hit the reply button and let me know. Your fellow community members could learn from your questions and ideas!

As you're thinking about that, take a look at some of the great posts and ideas we've already collected from the community in this edition of Fundraising Weekly!

You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today!

If you're in the fundraising department of a nonprofit organization leveraging products in the Microsoft ecosystem, the Microsoft Tech for Social Impact team is paving a new road ahead that might be appealing for your organization.

Microsoft recently announced the arrival of Microsoft Fundraising and Engagement, an open source fundraising application built for the non-profit community. This new solution leverages Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Microsoft Azure to bring fundraising tools into the hands of organization in the Microsoft ecosystem. Out-of-the-box, organizations can manage gifts, membership, events, grants, and custom data. Coupled with its broad extensibility features, it gives organizations access to fundraising information nearly anywhere in their use of Microsoft tools, including Outlook, Excel, Word, and Teams.

To top it off, it's free, open source, and built on the open source nonprofit common data model.

As organizations dive into the details of what's included within the new solution (it looks like more will be shared from Microsoft during the next few weeks), we've provided this introductory guide to help you better understand where the Fundraising and Engagement app fits into the broader ecosystem of solutions for our non-profit community.

Issue 009

Do not adjust your phone's clock. Do not reset your calendar. It's really Wednesday (I think), and I'm rolling out this newsletter a day late because...it's just been that kind of a week. The transition from the great outdoors to the city can do that to you.

Oh, and that debate.

Let's get us all grounded in some solid fundraising tactics and strategies to get us through the middle of the week, shall we? Welcome to another delivery of community knowledge sharing!

You can receive the Fundraising Weekly newsletter each Tuesday by subscribing today!