We've all been there. Boring conference chicken. Even more dry speakers. And, we're sitting at the fundraiser just waiting to write a check and run home to catch up on this season of The Bachelor. Are you ready to improve your next nonprofit fundraiser? Or even better - turn your fundraising attendees into regular donors?

So if you're like most nonprofits, you've probably done this Giving Tuesday thing over and over again and, potentially, unsuccessfully. So, before you get started diving into Giving Tuesday this year, I want you to ask yourself these six questions about whether Giving Tuesday is right for your organization.

For almost all nonprofits, the last 3 months of the year are THE MOST important. 31% of all annual gifts come in in December. With Giving Season Just around the corner, check out these 10 tips to do Giving Season right as a nonprofit fundraiser!

Most fundraising content I read doesn’t have a story. But to increase donations during your next nonprofit fundraising campaign, you need to tell the story. Stories evoke feelings from your potential donors. So you should use storytelling to evoke feelings in your next fundraising campaigns.

Donor messaging is such a vague space people oftentimes don’t know what to do or where to start. Sometimes it’s because nonprofits want to cut corners, get creative, and forget about their branding. But the truth is, your agency’s branding should guide what kind of messaging you need to show donors, what that messaging looks like, and how you'll do it.

Need a trifold brochure? No you don’t. You need a 30-minute brand consultation. Erica was one of my first clients when I launched Grit in April 2017. She is a woman with a marketing background in corporate America who also happened to have a pretty rad style.

If you're a nonprofit, chances are you don't have a graphic design and social media expert doing your marketing. Those people cost money.

But, it doesn't mean your volunteer, working board member or administrative assistant who doubles are your marketing coordinator can't still be a nonprofit marketing superstar!

Learn how Emily Steele, a volunteer and our Grit HQ Public Relations Consultant has developed and "failed forward" with her trials and tribulations in marketing a community theatre in Decatur, Illinois.

Have you ever wondered if or why you should use content marketing for your business?

Whether you're a small business or larger firm, you need to use content marketing to grow your business.

My clients know my 3 favorite letters: ROI. Well, investing time or money in content marketing can bring a huge return on investment for your business.

You have a million and one things on your nonprofit's to-do list. And you already regularly engage your donors in a newsletter (right?). So you're either unconvinced, or on the fence, about adding an e-newsletter to your nonprofit's endless to-do list.

I constantly hear nonprofits say “we use PayPal to collect donations online.” I want to respond: “And, how many donations do you collect?” Certainly not many. Stripe, PayPal, and other online money collection options are built to do just that - collect money. These platforms are not built to be user-friendly OR entice people to donate.

It was 2016. I was the Director of Public Relations and Development at MRI. Mike with MW Made It and I collaborated on an awesome, branded poster for the first ever Decatur Craft Beer Festival.

The branding for the event was awesome. The logo was awesome (props, Mike!). The poster was awesome. We sent the poster to the printer and distributed matching flyers to 500 or so people. I was really proud of it.

Until I noticed after printing and sending everything out to a gazillion people that “souvenir” was spelled wrong.

Do you use an excel spreadsheet to keep track of donations?

Maybe you have that long notes section that reflects most of the donations that have come in over the last few years... well, except for those three months the volunteer bookkeeper was on maternity leave.

As nonprofit professionals, we've all been there. That event is coming up in three weeks. So for that event, you have a list of volunteer slots. And... a list of 50 million people (board members, volunteers, those BFFs who come through for you) who might volunteer for you...

Even in the age of digital marketing, solicitation letters are a key part of any fundraising plan. Over and over and over again I see nonprofits send out correspondence for solicitation letters with the wrong messaging, the wrong formatting, and no direct ask...

So if you’re like many non-profit leaders, you’re wrapping up the end of this calendar year and preparing for the future. And many non-profits kick off the new year by digging their hands deep into planning their next spring special event.

The Giving season can be sane for nonprofits spending all their time on fundraising. Here are 6 ways you can take a step back and prevent yourself from going crazy during the Giving season.

I know we’re all recovering from too much wine, too much turkey, and too much football. I am on the too much football train – not by choice. But when Giving Tuesday is approaching, you nonprofits better have your act together.