What I learned as I watched my family toiling away in the hot sun is that gardening is hard work.

The same is true in your fundraising. Your contacts are just like those seeds planted in the ground. If they are well tended, they have the potential to bear good fruit. But, if neglected, they don’t produce much of a harvest - if anything at all.

The stories we tell are powerful because they help the listener understand a new perspective with their heart and soul. The three specific stories also answer 3 important questions.

Since fundraising isn't a sprint, but quite often a marathon, it's easy to feel like you're not making much progress at different points in the race.

“I've never fundraised before, but really desire to know how to do it effectively. What should I do?” READ MORE.

Ever thought about using text messages as your ongoing communication to donors, instead of or in addition to email?

Fundraising is like building a home. It’s not done over night, and it requires a plethora of things to be done correctly and admirably.

Giving Tuesday. When and why did that start again?

Its beginnings are noble: pushing against the commercialism of Thanksgiving as a shopping day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. So we certainly applaud the fact that this grassroots giving mechanism truly started from one non-profit as a movement, and has grown ever since.

We talk a lot about communicating on a calendar around here. That’s because it is the foundation for relationship building with donors. So when year-end asks finally roll around, what does that calendar look like? Perhaps you know exactly what you want to say, you just need to know when.

Welcome to June. And now, it’s time to start thinking about next December.

When it comes to fundraising, you can’t wait until November to start thinking about how to approach donors for that larger year-end gift. You have to communicate all year long. Starting now, if you haven’t already.

We get some questions on information security from time to time. Here are some tools for people that may need this info. You typically only need this information if you are at risk while overseas. Here are a few industry secure best practices.

Is it time for a hire?

Whether you’re asking the question from a position of strength financially or wondering if a staff member is the silver bullet to getting your budget out of the red, this is a critical question for all non-profits.

In the red. Ugh. This is not where we wanted to be.

Facing a budget shortfall when you’re in ministry is one of those things that tests our faith. Whether your family’s budget or your payroll depends on it, it’s a stressor that can feel insurmountable.

We own nothing. Everything we have has been a provision from the Father. So when we approach people and invite them to give, we need to understand who owns the resources they have.

It’s tempting to think that, when the donations seem to dry up, it’s time for new donors. That may be the case. In fact, you should think about new donor acquisition on an ongoing basis.

You can never make someone feel over encouraged or over thanked.

Think about that next time you contemplate how to thank your donors, large and small, for their partnership in your ministry.

The blocks below apply not only to your overall strategy but also to any particular campaign. Both approaches should include these disciplines, which work together to form the basis of your funding plan. Strategy Day is not the time to build the outline of that Funding Plan document...that happens afterward. During your day, focus on:

Devote no more than an hour and a half of your day to messaging. You will have touched on it in strategic alignment, and you’ll get exhausted if you spend too much concentrated time on it. Here’s how to use that 1.5 hours:

Compelling donors to give more is about motivation and intentionality. It’s not just about the ask.