Category Archives: Fundraising

Write Blurbs: How to get your donors to want more of your email newsletter

Emails like this don’t get read:    Email blurbs like this do: By using blurbs, your newsletter will be: Easier to read Quicker to read Fun to read Here’s how you do it: 1. Write the long description of what happened like you normally would. Using blurbs in your email newsletter is not about getting…   Read more

Also posted in Email/Communications | 2 Comments

Please Do Not Create a Facebook Page for Your Personal Ministry

This is for ministry leaders that must raise funds for their individual ministry, not for corporate or ministry fundraisers. Different rules apply. Facebook most likely contains the largest percentage of people who support your ministry financially (compared to Twitter or Google+). But remember they joined Facebook to connect primarily with people. Although many brands and…   Read more

Also posted in Social Media | 9 Comments

CRM for Fundraisers: Karani

The question I hear from campus staff often than any other is “How do I manage my contacts?” There’s a term for this in the business world: Constituent Relationship Management tools.  A few months ago I asked around about the options available to campus ministers, and after some great feedback decided to develop Karani. However,…   Read more

Also posted in Web Services | Tagged | 2 Comments

CRM for fundraisers: BigContacts

The question I hear from campus staff often than any other is “How do I manage my contacts?” There’s a term for this in the business world: Constituent Relationship Management tools.  A few months ago I asked around about the options available to campus ministers, and after some great feedback decided to develop Karani. However,…   Read more

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CRM for Fundraisers: SalesForce or Highrise

The question I hear from campus staff often than any other is “How do I manage my contacts?” There’s a term for this in the business world: Constituent Relationship Management tools.  A few months ago I asked around about the options available to campus ministers, and after some great feedback decided to develop Karani. However,…   Read more

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CRM for Fundraisers: TntMPD

The question I hear from campus staff often than any other is “How do I manage my contacts?” There’s a term for this in the business world: Constituent Relationship Management tools.  A few months ago I asked around about the options available to campus ministers, and after some great feedback decided to develop Karani. However,…   Read more

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Top 5 Ways to Cripple Your Email Communications with Donors

1. Share the exact same information you shared somewhere else (direct mail piece and facebook update come to mind). 2. Do not include a way to interact with you further online (for example, clickable links to a blog post, flickr photo, facebook photo album, or YouTube video). 3. Include an attachment that they must download…   Read more

Also posted in Email/Communications | Tagged | 3 Comments

Creative Partner Communications: The 17-Second Prayer Card

My 17-second Prayer Card for November We want to be campus ministers who fundraise in reality. Here’s what I mean: Your donors are busy. Your ministry is not exactly at the forefront of their minds. They don’t open your email newsletters. If they do, they skim. They love you and what you’re doing, but that…   Read more

Also posted in Email/Communications | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Accepting Payments with Square and WePay

Usually when we need to accept payments, it’s for donations to our personal fundraising budget–and usually those are managed by our organization. But what about when we need to accept payments that aren’t handled by our organization? What about conference registrations, book table sales, shirt sales, organization donations, raising funds for a charity, and more?…   Read more

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