Planned giving can seem complicated. But you don’t need to be an expert in planned giving vehicles to raise the topic with your clients.
Your board members want to give. They also want to be asked. Sometimes, good fundraising simply means having a meaningful conversation. So what’s stopping you?
One of the biggest differences I see between fundraisers who grow their organization’s revenue year after year and fundraisers who feel like they’re always scrambling is organization.
Organizations that are operating without a current strategic plan are rudderless. Good strategic plans establish the vision for the organization’s next 3-5 years.
If you’re a fundraising consultant, your clients pay you because they want to access your expertise, and the results they will get by following your advice.
That’s why it can be so frustrating for consultants when clients overrule their recommendations and go their own way.
What should you do in these situations … when the client is making decisions that will cause them to raise less money, and you’re worried it will reflect poorly on you?
When I’m hiring a frontline fundraiser, one of the top qualities I look for is what I call “fundraising gumption.” Whether I’m looking for a new major gifts officer, a director of development, or an entry-level fundraising coordinator, if you can prove you’ve got gumption, chances are, you’ve got the job.
Online will tools are tactical widgets, not strategies. They create pledges, not relationships, and leave nonprofits bragging about empty numbers instead of real gifts. Legacy campaigns, by contrast, are a full-time effort—cultivating donors with mail, calls, microsites, and stewardship. Tools alone are shortcuts that stall impact; campaigns build pipelines that deliver results. If you want lasting legacy revenue, stop chasing gadgets and start committing to the discipline of a real program.
Many nonprofits operate like unsuspecting turkeys, assuming past stability guarantees future safety. Built on feel-good events, crisis-driven appeals and compliance-focused boards, they remain fragile when unpredictable Black Swans—economic shocks, political upheavals, shifting donor sentiment—strike. Reactivity replaces strategy, visibility trumps resilience, and metrics reward vulnerability over strength. True antifragility requires cultivating long-term donor relationships, endowments, dissent-welcome hiring, mission-anchored vision, and durable structures that absorb disruption and emerge stronger, turning inevitable crises into growth catalysts for mission-driven impact ahead.
The Real Cost of Free Planned Giving Platforms The Promise vs. The Reality Free planned giving platforms made a compelling pitch: Make it easy for
Since the beginning of time, we’ve been wired to avoid risks because that’s how we survive. But while this instinct may protect us from danger, it also holds us back. Success requires bold, unconventional actions that often draw criticism. Businesses understand this well, but nonprofits often struggle to embrace it.
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