Conversion rates (aka response rates) are the holy grail in fundraising metric tracking. Getting at this elusive figure can give you incredibly valuable insight into how much your appeal, well, appeals to donors. The calculation is simple, yet determining the true tactic behind the conversion can be more challenging.

As the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve, we ushered in not only a new year but a new tax code that reshapes our economy in fundamental ways. With the doubling of the standard deduction to $12,000 for individuals and $24,000 for married couples, estimates project that as few as 10% of taxpayers will continue to itemize. This marked decrease means that donating to your nonprofit just got more expensive for most of your supporters since doing so won’t carry a tax benefit. Experts predict this to cause a drop in charitable donations of around $14 billion in 2018, or 5 percent of the $282 billion that nonprofits raised in 2016.

Key to responding to this changing charitable landscape is recognizing a fundamental fact: fundraising is primarily about a relationship. That relationship isn’t with the Internal Revenue Service. The key relationship is between your donor and your organization and its mission. Understanding that relationship and how it changes over time as your supporter moves through their donor journey is more critical now than ever.

But how?

Late Wednesday evening of Dreamforce, I wandered into Moscone West with a distinct purpose: secure Codey, the stuffed bear, to give to my 15-month-old son upon my return home. In the process of tackling the three tasks required to win said bear, I ended up creating a brand new Trailhead account and was instantly hooked on the training opportunities it offered.

Within a month, my Dreamforce-born obsession spurred me to reach the highest Trailhead rank of Ranger and pass the Salesforce Administrator certification exam.

1/10/2018 UPDATE: My son is a month older - and I am an additional certification deeper into my Trailblazer journey after passing the Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder today.

1/19/2018 UPDATE: Just passed the Salesforce Advanced Administrator certification. Trailhead, ho!

12/26/2018 UPDATE: And Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud Consultant certification makes four!

Here are eight observations about my journey for others interested in going from gamified Salesforce learning to real-world certification:

From #GivingTuesday to the end of the giving season, it will be critical for fundraisers to keep close track of progress toward their fundraising goals. For those with Salesforce, you can facilitate that by scheduling a report on that progress so it is emailed to key staff daily. This step-by-step recipe will walk through the creation of a fundraising report and how to schedule its delivery.

For other last minute #GivingTuesday tips, watch our webinar, #GivingTuesday Fundraising for Procrastinators.

It’s November - when the pumpkin is spicier, the turkeys more restless, and red lines on budgets prepare to turn black. Nearly one-third of the year’s giving will occur starting November 28th through the end of the year. And while this time is critical for meeting your bottom line, complicated it need not be. We humbly offer five simple wishlist items for your fundraising strategy to get your last minute gifts in order.