Before you send a single email or stuff a single envelope, reach out to donors—by phone or email—and announce your campaign is coming.

This one act can boost your response rate up to five times higher. If you actually reach a donor and they feel connected to your cause, half of them will give. Do it well, and that number can soar 70%. Incredible.

But skip the notification and rely only on a generic appeal letter or email? Expect a limp response rate of just 1–3%. Maybe 5% if you're lucky. (It's like brewing coffee without heating the water—you'll still get something brown, but nobody's drinking it.)

Listen in and Learn!

Let's be honest: most nonprofits don't need another event. They need better ones. The kind that doesn't drain staff, exhaust volunteers, or leave donors wondering why they just spent two hours listening to speeches when they could have been home in slippers. That's where specialty events come in.

Savvy fundraisers love specialty events—typically gatherings of 10 to 75 people—because they create something you simply can't replicate at a big gala. Donors see friends they respect, meet peers they admire, and experience your mission together. There's energy in the room. Momentum. A subtle but unmistakable sense that this is something worth being part of.

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Every nonprofit eventually hits a moment of polite stagnation. Board meetings are full, calendars are packed, and everyone is working hard—but progress feels heavier than it should. Conversations repeat themselves. Decisions take longer. Direction becomes unclear. Passion wilts. The organization isn't broken, but it isn't quite clicking either.

That's usually when someone finally says what everyone else is thinking: "We should probably do a board retreat." Or, "Maybe it's time for a planning session." The idea hangs in the air for a moment, feels responsible and hopeful, and then gets quietly shut down with a familiar phrase: "We just don't have the budget for that right now."

That sentence sounds practical. It feels disciplined. And most of the time, it's the wrong conclusion.

Listen and Learn!