How can nonprofits fundraise during a crisis without sounding opportunistic or worse, tone-deaf? Whether it’s disease, war or natural disaster, there always seems to be an emergency in the headlines. One thing is clear: in times of crisis, people become more empathetic and generous—and not just to causes directly related to the emergency. Data from…

The word “community” is frequently thrown around in nonprofit communications. But what does it actually mean, and what does it take to form a true community that provides value and drives increased repeat giving? At a time when nonprofits struggle with donor retention, efforts to tap into identity, increase value to donors, make them feel more inve…

There’s a new individual giving report, and the good news is that household charitable giving is on the rise. The bad news is that over 80% of new donors don’t give to the same nonprofit again the following year. The biggest difference maker? Treating donors as individuals, understanding their motivations, and reinforcing how your work connects to …

Whether you participated this year or not, the reach and impact of GivingTuesday is undeniable. Nonprofits in the U.S. alone raised $2.7 billion in 24 hours. Millions of people around the world gave money, time and voice to the causes they care about. But it’s not as simple as saying it’s GivingTuesday and asking for money. We invited Kathleen Murp…

“If you approach the wrong donor the wrong way, then you will leave money on the table and you'll lose them at hello." All your donors are not alike. They may all have one thing in common: they want to support your work. But their motivations and interests may vary widely. Understanding why they support you and how they prefer to do so can make the…

Most every organization keeps records of their donors—whether it’s in advanced CRMs or simple spreadsheets. But there’s a wide gap between keeping records and maximizing donor data to build strong relationships that raise more money. Regina Alhassan of ResearchPRO joins us to share her strategies for collecting valuable data, tracking it over time …

Which is a better way to serve your nonprofit’s program participants: Experience and knowledge-based assumptions, or regular input from the participants themselves? The answer is, of course, combining both. After all, how do you know how to apply your knowledge if you’re not regularly asking your beneficiaries what they need and how it’s working? T…

Getting media attention for your nonprofit’s work is a powerful way to reach new people, build your authority, and shape the narrative around your mission. It's not enough to put out a press release and hope it gets picked up by some new source. Today, nonprofits of all sizes need a media strategy built on relationships and the ability to provide v…

Does it feel like your nonprofit running on a donor treadmill? You’re constantly expending your resources to attract new donors, hoping that you get them quicker than you lose the ones that you had before so that you can do more. It’s exhausting and often demoralizing… and it doesn’t have to be that way. Improved donor engagement and retention star…

What website trends should nonprofits be conscious of in 2022? The last two years have dramatically changed the way that the world connects and does business. Everything possible went online in 2021, and with it, the noise level has made it harder and harder to capture attention, make a connection and inspire action. If nonprofit websites don’t kee…

For most nonprofits, the cost of a cybersecurity professional seems unjustifiable. However, the cost of an attack could be catastrophic. (And if a cyberattack sounds like something that happens to large tech companies, you haven’t been keeping up with the headlines.) Fortunately, there are simple approaches along with low-cost tools and training th…

The digital age, accelerated by the pandemic, has pushed most activities, including fundraising online. That has opened up our stories to audiences around the world. At the same time, that has removed some of the personal connection that we have to each other and causes. Sarah Welch is a behavioral scientist and Vice President at ideas42. She focus…

Is your nonprofit board making the most of your stories to connect others to your work? We know the power of stories to build empathy, understanding and connection to others. It’s critical to fundraising and nonprofit success as a whole. Your board is likely made up of intelligent, successful individuals who care deeply about your work. Chances are…

When Greg Harrell-Edge first joined CoachArt, they were doing great work in the Los Angeles area. They knew that there were so many more kids who could benefit from their services, but with their current systems, it was taking 7 hours to match one child to a volunteer. In the last 5 years since Greg joined, CoachArt has quadrupled impact, doubled r…

How do you build and grow a nonprofit legacy gift program at the most sensitive time in modern history? Legacy planning can be tough to talk about in general… but during a pandemic that has claimed millions of lives might be the toughest. And yet, we have a responsibility. Not to our organizations, but to the people who care about the issues we’re …

When Covid shut down non-essential access to hospitals, it effectively shut down all of Hearts Need Art’s programming, as it did for so many other service-based nonprofits. Artists were no longer able to perform for patients, patients were no longer able to get much-needed emotional support, and they couldn’t deliver on their promise to donors. Thi…

What happens when socially conscious millennials and others profit billions of dollars from cryptocurrency investments? They look for ways that their windfall can help those less fortunate. This year, one platform alone will handle over $100 million in cryptocurrency donations to nonprofits. And they expect it to 10x next year. What started out as …

Nonprofit volunteer time across the U.S. in 2021 is now $28.54/hr on average. They are often your greatest investors and champions… and that’s not even counting the donations that they make on top of their time. But with COVID and other challenges, too many organizations just don’t know how to capitalize on this opportunity. Even for nonprofits who…

Can asking your supporters for their help and input actually raise the amount they’re willing to support your nonprofit’s work? There’s a phenomenon in psychology, studied and demonstrated by behavioral economists, in which people consider something they’ve taken part in creating to be worth more than the same thing made by a professional. This cog…

The power of storytelling lies in its ability to connect people and share experiences. Regardless of how great a story you tell in the middle of the forest, if no one’s there to hear it, it doesn’t make an impact. In this third and final part of our exploration of Nonprofit Storytelling the Hollywood Way, we’re going to focus on elements of story c…

Studies have shown that as much as 88% of a nonprofit’s donated funds come from just 12% of their donors. That trend is only increasing, as a larger portion of all donations is coming from high-net-worth individuals. Each nonprofit might define a major gift at a different level based on their budget, but the need to cultivate and maintain relations…

It may be surprising to learn that nonprofit corporate sponsorships actually increased throughout the pandemic. Even as many for-profit businesses and nonprofit orgs tightened their budgets, businesses have responded to the needs in their communities and leaned into partnerships with like-minded nonprofits in greater numbers than ever before. For m…

Are nonprofit fundraisers forgetting that donors are people and alienating them in the process? When it comes to campaigns, donors are commonly segmented into convenient, pre-defined buckets, based on the amount of and time period since their last donation. While that’s a good starting point, its assumptions and lack of nuance may be doing more har…

Whether you’re a nonprofit development professional, a staff member, or an individual with a passion for making the world a better place, asking for money is often a dreaded necessity. The only thing worse is the possibility of not being able to provide the service that your community needs. How can we overcome our fears and roadblocks to ask for f…

Welcome to part 2 of our exploration of nonprofit storytelling lessons from Hollywood and beyond. This installment covers 15 elements of style and structure, and another 6 tips for laying out your action. Each concept can be directly applied to better telling your nonprofit’s stories. When most people think of storytelling, they tend to think of it…

The world of fundraising and giving is evolving rapidly. Online fundraising has been growing at 20-43% annually over the last three years. As of 2020, it accounted for 13% of all donations, far outpacing the growth of giving overall. As the landscape and tools develop, so do the strategies for best engaging and converting donors. Steve Daigneault h…

The nonprofit funding landscape continues to shift in response to the changing landscape in the pandemic and post-pandemic era. At the same time, there is a growing digital divide between those that are quickly adapting and adopting new strategies and those that are in danger of losing the ability to achieve their mission. Elizabeth Ngonzi, founder…

GivingTuesday Director of Digital Strategy Kathleen Murphy Toms shares strategies, tips and hacks for getting the most out of GivingTuesday and launching your year-end fundraising campaign. In its nine years, GivingTuesday has become the largest philanthropic movement in history—with activity in every country on the planet! And it’s showing no sign…

One of the key roles of nonprofits is to channel resources—time, money and voice—to communities in need. We work hard to get people to trust us with those resources. So how do we make sure to then allocate them as effectively as we can to do the greatest good? The answer is likely in our data. Alexandra Mannerings is a data scientist blending human…

The worlds of online and even traditional media are crowded with information and misinformation. Competition for attention is at an all-time high and trust, arguably, at all-time lows. Creating genuine connections and convincing people to support your cause only gets harder every day. One of the most effective mediums for conveying stories that dri…

The average donor retention rate among nonprofit donors is 45%. The average first-year retention rate is around 20%. Combine that with the fact that it costs more to acquire a new customer or donor than it does to keep them coming back, something is clearly not working well at most nonprofits today. Ephraim Gopin, Founder of 1832 Communications, jo…

What does it take for a nonprofit to tell a great story? In this episode we’ll start at the beginning: 16 fundamental questions to ask yourself about your organization, your goals and your characters before you start crafting a story. We know that great stories are the most effective way to connect with others, take them on a journey and inspire th…

Charity and nonprofits have had a special role in the American system since its earliest days: to fulfill a need that the government is not designed to or capable of meeting. They are an important part of the individualist character of our nation and its development. While donations to charity have risen in recent years, the average donation size h…

As the pandemic shifted so many things to “remote” and “work-from-home”, it has created opportunities for nonprofits (like so many other businesses) to expand their talent pool beyond the neighborhood and around the world. Nonprofits have long been a leader in employee culture and benefits, but how do we translate these ideals into the new paradigm…

Over the last few decades, there has been a sea change in the way we understand human behavior and guide or sway people to making decisions and taking action. This wave of research—observation and experimentation—has come to be known as Behavioral Science. Dr. Beth Karlin created the See Change Institute and devoted her career to help organizations…

Hollywood screenwriter Alex Litvak (Predators, Three Musketeers, Society of Second-Born Royals), joins Boris to discuss the craft of effective storytelling and what nonprofits can learn from an industry that brings in over $10 billion annually. From how they’re structured to what makes them effective, Alex helps us break down the keys to effective …

What role should innovation play in fulfilling your nonprofit’s mission? How do you justify allocating precious resources to technology and moonshots versus on-the-ground work? Sarah Lee, COO of New Story, joins Boris to talk about how nonprofits can leverage technology and innovation to create a great impact on the world. Whether you’re a small co…

Strategic Planning Consultant Joseph Barretto joins Boris to discuss how nonprofits can create and maintain a strategic plan that keeps the organization on-mission during good times, tough times, and black swan events like pandemics. ** Episode Links and Shownotes: https://npherofactory.com/ep16 ** What should nonprofits be thinking about as they p…

Sam Horn, CEO of Intrigue Agency, shares techniques for crafting nonprofit stories that start conversations, intrigue your audience and inspire them to action. Whether it’s a donor pitch, a virtual meeting or a face-to-face conversation, Sam and Boris discuss how to use story to illustrate the power of your work and gain the trust of your audience …

Matthew Quint, Director of the Center on Global Brand Leadership at Columbia Business School, discusses the challenges and opportunities nonprofit brands are facing today. Boris and Matthew talk about what defines a brand and how your brand can be an authentic voice that rises above the noise. They also discuss the importance of understanding your …

Episode Show Notes and Links: https://nphf.show/ep13 Concepts and Takeaways: Integrity, authenticity, trust and honesty are the key to good fundraiser/donor relationships. Donors are people, too. Put yourself in their shoes when thinking about the language and tactics you’re using to appeal to them. Communicate with them in a way that you’d want to…

From donor acquisition to management and reporting, how you manage your data can make all the difference. How do you choose a Constituent Relationship Management system and when should you build your own? And how do you make the most out of the new tools? Episode Show Notes and Links: https://nphf.show/ep12…

How does one advocate for change and for your nonprofit? Quentin "Q" Phipps is one of the few people who live on both sides of the equation—as a nonprofit advocate in education and a member of the Connecticut General Assembly… And he's here to share the keys to a successful advocacy campaign. Episode Show Notes and Links: https://nphf.show/ep11…

What role do ethics and diversity play in your nonprofit's communications? Are labels helping or hurting your cause? Yonason Goldson is a community rabbi, TEDx presenter and author, teaching leaders how ancient rabbinic wisdom can apply to the challenges of the modern world. Episode Show Notes and Links: https://nphf.show/ep10…

Episode Show Notes and Links: https://nphf.show/ep9 Concepts and Takeaways: Emergent situations (like COVID-19) can be the best or the worst times to launch a campaign. The best time to launch a campaign is when you’re ready. I.e., when you and your team have the capacity, and can capture the attention and participation of your strongest supporters…

Mobile messaging is the fastest-growing communications channel with click-through rates far above email. How are nonprofits using it successfully today and how can you incorporate it into your successful engagement and fundraising strategies? Episode Show Notes and Links: https://nphf.show/ep8 www.linkedin.com/company/atmssg npherofactory.com atmss…

Digital tools and strategies for effecting change are about current events and the strategies you can use to make a change, whether it be in your community, country or globally. Don't stand by and watch injustice, make a difference in your world. Boris also shares websites and ideas about how to make those changes. https://www.usa.gov/election-offi…

When it comes to stretching resources, most nonprofits focus on minimizing their spending and maximizing donations. But many are not taking advantage of everything their data and technology have to offer. From donor engagement to setting and measuring ROI, to scaling your impact, Isaac shares his insights on how your data can take your work to the …

How have funders responded to COVID-19? What should nonprofits do in turn? And how has this pandemic changed the field ina the near and long terms? As the Programs Manager at Candid, Tracy Kaufman has a front-row seat to the challenges that grantmakers and nonprofits are experiencing in response to the coronavirus pandemic. What's working, what isn…

Boris talks to Marian Stern, Principle of Projects in Philanthropy, who shares how nonprofits are impacted and advice on how to pivot during COVID to create your budget, reach out to donors, share your message and stay true to your mission while creating new funding needs. Episode Show Notes and Links: https://nphf.show/ep4…