Wow.  

I'm still on cloud nine 🌤️ from all the fundraising pearls of wisdom that dropped at Bloomerang’s GiveCon conference

(Best conference I ever went to in my life and I am a conference junkie!)

Here’s some of my favorite aha moments, quotes, take-aways, downloads and goodies to help you…

  • “How well do you know your donors?  Being seen is a gift.  Loneliness has the same impact on your health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.”    Tammy Zonker, Founder, Fundraising Transformed.  Get Tammy’s weekly “Scaling Major Gifts” newsletter or podcast.

  • “Draft all your post-event follow up BEFORE your event.”  Amy Funk, F+H Partners consulting. 

  • “We’re overcomplicating it.  We have to make fundraising more human at scale.  We have more aging donors – this is a golden opportunity that we can’t miss!”  Bloomerang CEO Dennis Fois.

Dennis told a story about his favorite dog charity, which hit financial hardships but hid it from major donors (like him).  Ok, wait up.  (Cue the beep-beep-beep forklift 🚜 sounds you hear at Home Depot).

If you’re in turmoil now, or anticipate you will soon, let your donors know!   (Psst…if you need help with your messaging check out Julie Edward’s new program, Advocate Essentials)

  • “Let’s stop using traditional unearned salutations like Mr. and Mrs. in our communications.  Call me by my name and you’ll never get it wrong.”  Lynne Wester, Founder, the Donor Relations Group.  

  • “Add one more fundraising campaign into your calendar and you’ll get more revenue and improved donor retention,” Jeff Brooks, follow his Future Fundraising Now Blog

  • “The first step to crafting a fundraising plan is asking yourself:  What does your history tell you is possible?  Next steps?  Write.  It.  Down.  Hold yourself accountable to it.”   T. Clay Buck, CFRE Founder, Next River Fundraising Strategies.

  • “Behavior is far more important than gift amount.  Do you know the name of your donor who has given the most consistently to your org over time?”  Lynne Wester, Founder, the Donor Relations Group. 

That ☝🏽 pearl of wisdom came from Lynne’s drop-the-mic session on “Recognizing donors through a DEI lens”. Catch more truth bombs (and laughs) in Lynne and Clay’s “Fundraising Is Funny” podcast.

  • “If you look at most nonprofit communications, you’d never know they need help.”  Patty Breech, CEO The Purpose Collective.  (Pssst…Patty and her amazing team give you FREE feedback on your marketing or messaging every week in their office hours. 

  • “How can you build a lead magnet your constituents want to download?  Tell AI to look at your website and give you ideas.”  Chad Barger, owner of Productive Fundraising and self-described Fundraising Nerd. 

  • “The most important part of any event should be a moving testimonial” Sabrina Walker Hernandez, Founder, Supporting World Hope.  Grab Sabrina’s “House party of Hope Fundraising Kit”  for FREE with the code “GiveCon”.

  • “Speak to the person not the wallet.”  Erik Tomalis, Chief Evangelist at Avid who shared some jaw dropping stats on the lack of stewardship first time donors get in Next After’s online donor retention study of over 200 nonprofits.

I had so much fun sharing “Best of Fundraising Examples” from budgets big and small. Grab my slides and lookbook of “Fundraising Campaigns that Hit the Jackpot” for pure fundraising inspiration.

The brilliant and hilarious Simon Scriver, Co-Founder, Fundraising Everywhere, had everyone ready to share “delighters” in his “Can a chicken nugget save the world?”  closing keynote about how small acts of kindness can have a big impact on our lives. 

Ready to try it in action with your donors to deepen relationships? Simon invites you to do it in 5 words:  “Saw this.  Thought of you.” 

Mic. Drop.

Here’s to delighting your donors!

Love, Rachel