If you're the only person handling marketing, comms, and half your org's donor relationships, "social media strategy" probably sounds like something other, better-staffed nonprofits get to have. Here's the thing though: you don't need a content team or a fancy dashboard to make social media actually work for you. You just need a rhythm you…
Ever handed a gala program to a guest, watched them flip through it once during the appetizer course, then never see it again? Yeah, we've all been there. Turns out, a gala program isn't really about the printed booklet at all. It's the roadmap for how your donors spend their attention over a two or…
You don't need a camera crew or a fancy $3,000 rig to make a video that actually moves people. Turns out, a smartphone, a loose story plan, and five well-chosen shots are plenty for a small nonprofit team to show who's affected, what your org does about it, and what the viewer can do next.…
Processing a donation? That's honestly the easy part. What happens after that gift lands is where things get tricky, and it's where a lot of nonprofits quietly lose ground. So if you're shopping around for donation software, don't just ask "can it accept payments?" The better question is: can it help you actually build a…
If you're the only person handling marketing, comms, and half your org's donor relationships, "social media strategy" probably sounds like something other, better-staffed nonprofits get to have. Here's the thing though: you don't need a content team or a fancy dashboard to make social media actually work for you. You just need a rhythm you…
Ever handed a gala program to a guest, watched them flip through it once during the appetizer course, then never see it again? Yeah, we've all been there. Turns out, a gala program isn't really about the printed booklet at all. It's the roadmap for how your donors spend their attention over a two or…
You don't need a camera crew or a fancy $3,000 rig to make a video that actually moves people. Turns out, a smartphone, a loose story plan, and five well-chosen shots are plenty for a small nonprofit team to show who's affected, what your org does about it, and what the viewer can do next.…
If you've ever struggled to explain how your nonprofit changes lives in a board meeting or grant proposal, you're not alone. Sure, numbers are easy. Served 500 families, raised $200K. But what about the mom who finally felt heard? The teen who discovered their voice? Those transformative moments are your real mission impact, and they…
Looking to make sense of your donor data without drowning in spreadsheets? Here's the thing: most nonprofit leaders get buried in numbers that don't actually tell them much. But when you track the right metrics, you'll finally understand what's working, which donors are sticking around, and where your next big opportunity lives. In this guide,…
If you're running a nonprofit with a small team, you've probably felt that familiar tension between wanting to do more good and drowning in spreadsheets. Here's the thing: data doesn't have to be overwhelming or reserved for organizations with fancy analytics departments . In our experience, the right approach to data actually reduces burnout while…
Silent auction rules don't have to read like something a lawyer drafted at 2am. When your rules are short, friendly, and easy to skim, guests actually get how bidding works, and that little bit of confidence? It turns into higher bids. Funny how that works. So here's what we're covering: a guest-tested silent auction rules…
A donor lands on your donation form, ready to give. Then they hit a clunky field, a confusing label, or a payment step that just feels slow, and poof, they close the tab. It happens more than any of us would like to admit. The truth is, the difference between a form that converts and…
Asking for donated goods and services can feel a little awkward, right? Like, you're running a mission-driven organization, not a yard sale. But here's the thing: in-kind donations are genuinely one of the most underrated tools in a nonprofit's fundraising toolkit , and when you promote them the right way, they attract enthusiastic partners instead…
Look, we get it. You're trying to figure out why some donors give once and disappear while others stick around month after month. It's not just about the money (though that's obviously important). It's about understanding what's actually going through people's heads when they decide to support your cause. We've spent over a decade working…
Writing thank-you letters well can make or break your donor relationships. Here's the thing: when you're working with a small team and wearing seventeen different hats, it's easy to let gratitude slip down your to-do list. But in our experience, these letters aren't just nice to have. They're one of the most powerful retention tools…
Looking to keep your donors around for the long haul? You're in the right place. Donor retention is honestly the secret sauce of sustainable fundraising , but here's the thing: most nonprofits are way better at finding new supporters than keeping the ones they've got. In our experience working with small nonprofit teams, smart retention…
Volunteers hand your nonprofit something money can't buy: their time. And here's the thing, how you say thank you often decides whether they come back next season or just fade off your roster without a word. Nobody wants that. So below, you'll find a practical rundown plus 25 ready-to-use lines for email, text, and social…
Giving Tuesday inboxes turn into a straight-up battlefield every year. Your supporters are scrolling past dozens of nearly identical asks in the same afternoon, all fighting for a half-second of attention before getting swiped away. So what actually stops the thumb? Your subject line. That's it. That tiny line of text is the only thing…
If you're the sole person wrangling email newsletters, social calendars, and text campaigns for your nonprofit, here's a truth you probably already know deep down: the problem isn't that you don't have enough tools. It's that you've got too many, and none of them are talking to each other. So what's the fix? Not a…
Ever handed a gala program to a guest, watched them flip through it once during the appetizer course, then never see it again? Yeah, we've all been there. Turns out, a gala program isn't really about the printed booklet at all. It's the roadmap for how your donors spend their attention over a two or…
Some fundraisers need a whole marketing team just to explain what's happening. Others explain themselves the second your executive director gets nailed with a pie. That's the beauty of funny fundraising ideas: the activity is the content. No overthinking captions, no staring at a blank Canva template wondering what to say. The joke's the hook,…
A great gala theme does more than give you something pretty for the step-and-repeat. It hands your donors a story to walk into, makes it obvious why they showed up in the first place, and honestly? It makes the ask feel a lot less awkward when it finally comes. If you've been staring at a…
Small nonprofit teams are basically superheroes without capes, right? You're juggling fundraising, strategy, communications, and about seventeen other roles while trying to change the world. Here's the thing: you don't need a bigger team or budget to multiply your impact. You just need smarter systems that work as hard as you do. In this guide,…
Volunteer management can be the secret sauce that amplifies your nonprofit's impact, or it can become one more exhausting thing on your already overflowing plate. We've worked with enough nonprofits at Funraise to spot the patterns that lead to high turnover, frustrated volunteers, and staff burnout on both sides of the equation. So let's walk…
Working in nonprofits means you're carrying others' pain alongside your own already-full workload. Look, it's a beautiful calling, but here's the thing: there's a real cost. Compassion fatigue is what happens when prolonged exposure to others' suffering drains you emotionally, physically, and spiritually. It hits nonprofit workers particularly hard through what's called secondary trauma. In…
If you're the only person handling marketing, comms, and half your org's donor relationships, "social media strategy" probably sounds like something other, better-staffed nonprofits get to have. Here's the thing though: you don't need a content team or a fancy dashboard to make social media actually work for you. You just need a rhythm you…
If your event marketing plan currently lives in a mix of sticky notes, group texts, and hope, well, you're definitely not alone. Small nonprofit teams get asked to run events like there's a whole marketing department behind them, when really it's one or two people wearing five different hats (and maybe wondering where hat number…
We ranked nonprofit event ticketing platforms on the thing marketers care about: how much each one helps you actually sell the tickets, not just process them.
You don't need a camera crew or a fancy $3,000 rig to make a video that actually moves people. Turns out, a smartphone, a loose story plan, and five well-chosen shots are plenty for a small nonprofit team to show who's affected, what your org does about it, and what the viewer can do next.…
Processing a donation? That's honestly the easy part. What happens after that gift lands is where things get tricky, and it's where a lot of nonprofits quietly lose ground. So if you're shopping around for donation software, don't just ask "can it accept payments?" The better question is: can it help you actually build a…
Donor stewardship gets talked about a lot, but here's what it actually means: the ongoing work of thanking, updating, and recognizing your donors in between the moments you're asking them for money. Do it well, and a single gift turns into an actual relationship, one that doesn't need a massive development team behind it to…
Bloomerang is a strong donor database. If you are the one running campaigns, here are the alternatives that let you market without exporting a CSV every week.
What's Already Happening: AI in Nonprofit Outreach Today AI isn't some far-off concept for nonprofits. It's already driving real results. Organizations using AI-powered CRMs are getting a clearer, more complete view of donor behavior across channels, and that visibility is improving retention through predictive scoring. Tools like Funraise AI are already generating peer-to-peer appeals, personalized…
Okay, real talk: AI has officially jumped the shark in terms of buzzword saturation. It's everywhere, promising everything, and if you're leading a nonprofit, you've probably felt the pressure to "do something with AI" without a clear sense of what that actually means for your donor relationships. Sound familiar? Here's what we've found after working…