Strategic Plans don’t always have the best “reputation” in nonprofits and churches. Organizations often spend a lot of money developing them to have them sit on a shelf doing nothing.

Within organizations, some people naturally think and work strategically. Others thrive on knocking things off their to-do list. To-do lists are not the same as making crucial decisions that help guide the work of the organization toward common goals and objectives.

Partnering with churches can greatly increase your annual fund and help you acquire new donors if you position yourself correctly. Also, they will tell your story so that donors, participants, and potential friends start to learn about your impact. Turn congregations into major donors for your annual fund and even for campaign gifts.

This is a great evaluation tool to use with your staff, key volunteers, and board members. Have each of them, or a select group of them complete the evaluation and then discuss the results together. You will each see things a little differently and that knowledge will be helpful in making real changes and improve in giving to your organization.

Some leaders want nothing to do with conversations about generosity. The reality is key staff and board members are positioned to have tremendous relationships alongside passion and knowledge of the organization making them tremendously important in the fundraising function. This roundtable will focus on being equipped to be a leader for generosity. We will also discuss ways to empower the board/council to take on this role and thrive in it. Because of the MLK holiday, this session was pre-recorded and is posted in the videos section of the Center website.

Giving societies are useful tools in renewing and upgrading your donors. Join us as we discuss establishing and marketing giving societies, as well as using giving societies to share our gratitude to our donors.

This week we will review how to assess your website for your internal and external audience. When someone visits your website, you have 7 seconds to convince them to keep scrolling. Many organizations and churches built a website and then checked that box. But website interaction is constantly changing and if we don’t keep up, it sends a message that we aren’t current or organized. In this week's round table we will learn how to audit our websites for our different audiences and where content should be included and where it is sending damaging messages.

Different audiences care about different things and need different messages. Improved segmentation of communication will improve engagement and response. This session will focus on the basics of segmentation, and strategies your organization can employ today to improve your communications.

It’s early January and we should know what our plan for securing generosity for the year will be. Do you have a development calendar? What about goals? Does your board/council know how to monitor the plan and provide assistance in reaching the goal?

Many boards (councils) spend lots of time talking about stuff. But, is it the right stuff? And, when it isn’t the right stuff, are we hindering generosity? A strategic plan is critically important in the fundraising function both for churches and non-profit institutions. And, the board/council needs tools for asking for and monitoring the strategic plan.

An honor/memorial program is a great way to acquire new donors and build the foundation to be remembered in the long-term planning of your closest donors. These gifts can become very fruitful and can be counted on over the long-term.

Churches and non-profits have expertise in positively influencing individual lives along with the community at large and even beyond. They are mission, vision, and values driven and their basic existence is predicated on improving the human condition and doing the right thing.

But every organization will face a crisis at some point. A crisis can be a single event.