marcapitman

[marcapitman]

An accidental fundraiser and data geek

An accidental fundraiser and data geek

I’ve been honored to work with Erin Troia over the years. I haven’t met anyone with her ability to make data understandable for fundraisers and nonprofit leaders. I’m thrilled she’ll be joining us in The Nonprofit Academy for the webinar Data. Curiosity. Creativity. Building the Bridge. Since finding a person who understands data and communicates well with people is rare, I invited her in for an…

[marcapitman]

Is cleverness killing your fundraising?

Is cleverness killing your fundraising?

I sent this reminder to my Fundraising Kick subscribers earlier this month. The response was so good, I wanted to share it with you too. Heed the warning! Good morning, Kickers! I need to apologize. I set out to write this email two days ago. But the message was so basic, I decided to wait. I wanted to come up with something clever. Something innovative. Something that would make you think,…

[marcapitman]

Winners Announced!

This week on the first day of the book launch, we announced a contest. Anyone who bought the book on or before Monday, and emailed me the receipt, was entered to win prizes including a free month of membership to The Nonprofit Academy and a 30-minute fundraising coaching session with me. The Results are In We are serious about our contests. So we used four random number generators to ensure…

[marcapitman]

Free coaching and NPA membership offer

Free coaching and NPA membership offer

Ask Without Fear ® for Christian Ministry Launches Today! We’re so thrilled about the launch today that we’re doing a give away! How to enter to win Entering to win couldn’t be easier! Purchase the book today, Monday, March 20, 2017, and Email me a receipt as proof-of-purchase to marc@fundraisingcoach.com – even a picture if you get it at a local bookstore You can purchase the book here, at your…

[marcapitman]

Help for funding your ministry

Help for funding your ministry

We’ve never met anyone who got into ministry to raise money. Most people sense God’s call and start doing service in some area. People are excited for them and encourage them. In the initial rush of excitement, if money even comes up, they try to brush off the thought by saying, “God will provide.” And God does provide. But not always the way we expect. Many people in ministry seem to think God’s…

[marcapitman]

Is there plenty of room on your fundraising island?

Is there plenty of room on your fundraising island?

As a nonprofit leader, when was the last time you recommended another nonprofit? Plenty of room on the island A while back, Seth Godin wrote about there being plenty of room on the island. He observed that authors regularly recommend other authors even though an MBA program would call them “competitors.” It’s a great reminder that most of life is not a zero sum game. Competition isn’t really…

[marcapitman]

Why I don't like crowdfunding

Why I don’t like crowdfunding

Speaking at a conference recently, fundraisers kept peppering me with questions related to fundraising. Some of those in the audience balanced their entire annual budget on a crowdfunding campaign. That is plain crazy. Yes, crowdfunding has opened up philanthropy and investment to all of us. According to recent data, from 2014 to 2015 the estimates for all crowdfunding doubled from over $16…

[marcapitman]

Do You Need a Really a Nonprofit Mentor?

Do You Need a Really a Nonprofit Mentor?

The nonprofit sector is a strong and vibrant community full of people willing to help each other out. And now more than ever, it’s important to come together and work as allies and mentors. The value of being mentored seems pretty obvious: new skills, confidence, friendship, etc. And in fact, the research shows that people who are mentored get more job promotions and earn more than people who…

[marcapitman]

Tithing from the IRA Rollover

Tithing from the IRA Rollover

Charitable Gift IRA Rollover: The Past In 2006 I was visiting with a donor who was very excited about the recent Pension Protection Act that enabled him to give from his IRA to charity. The Charitable Gift IRA Rollover allowed many donors like him to give a Qualified Contribution Distribution (QCD) to a qualified charity without having to count the funds distributed from his IRA as ordinary…

[marcapitman]

7 Year-End Fundraising Practices That Work All Year

7 Year-End Fundraising Practices That Work All Year

Year-end fundraising is a bountiful time in the life of the nonprofit. Giving Tuesday and holiday-themed asks are just the beginning of the strategies that nonprofits employ for the end-of-year season. But many of these practices are too beneficial to reserve for the end of the year alone. With a little tweaking, you can adapt these practices to your year-round fundraising. After all, there…

[marcapitman]

The missing link in fundraising programs

The missing link in fundraising programs

Whether your fiscal year starts now or is only part of the way through, January is a good time to evaluate your fundraising progress. To help you’re planning, here’s an email I sent our Fundraising Kick subscribers yesterday. Good morning, Kickers! Listening to a conversation between Stephen R. Covey and his son Stephen M.R. Covey last week reminded me of the work you do with major donors.…

[marcapitman]

3 Great Fundraising Webinars to Kick Off 2017!

3 Great Fundraising Webinars to Kick Off 2017!

These three trainings will get your 2017 fundraising and goal setting off to a great start! The 7 Habits of Highly Ineffective People & How to Beat Them (free) Join neuropsychologist Dr. Theo Tsaousides as he teaches us about the 7 blocks the brain puts in the way of accomplishing our goals. He’s an expert on how the brain works and how we can help our brains help us complete our goals. Learn…

[marcapitman]

The most important words of your email?

The most important words of your email?

Writing the only part of the email your donors might see: the email subject line Is your inbox filled with holiday sales, year end reminders, and charity appeals? It can be challenging to make your own nonprofit’s emails standout! The email subject line. Much like the importance of a postscript in fundraising letters, your email subject line can only be effective once you know exactly what you…

[marcapitman]

3 things to do now that #GivingTuesday is over

3 things to do now that #GivingTuesday is over

I’ve been glad to hear of my clients’ #GivingTuesday success. Matching gifts and leveraging peer-to-peer approaches seem to be the most effective reasons for their success. But #GivingTuesday is over, now what? 3 Post #GivingTuesday Suggestions Start planning 2017’s #GivingTuesday If you’ve determined #GivingTuesday should be part of your fundraising calendar, start planning 2017. (It’ll be on…

[marcapitman]

Educating donors is not fundraising

Educating donors is not fundraising

I’ve been hearing a well-meaning but fundraising killing myth while talking to many groups and training many boards over the last few months. It boils down to: “We need to do more education. If people really knew what we did, they would give money and our funding crisis would be over.” Or more generally: “If they knew about us, they’d give. One gentleman took along time to explain each step of…

[marcapitman]

How to Use a Street Team to Enhance Your Crowdfunding

How to Use a Street Team to Enhance Your Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a term you hear thrown around in both the nonprofit and for-profit worlds these days, but few people have really grasped—and put into practice—exactly what it is. The way I’d define crowdfunding is with these three words: online social fundraising. Accepting donations online is not really innovative anymore, to be honest. We all know about online fundraising at this point and…

[marcapitman]

Developing a Plan to Approach Companies

Developing a Plan to Approach Companies

Perhaps you already have a list of companies that could donate to your organization. If not, we’ll be helping you with that in our December 6 webinar. Once you have that list, the next step is to determine who the real decision makers are in each company and how you can get in front of them to present your case. Remember that the decision maker might not be the person who has the most visibility…