Learn more about analytics and research best practices, as well as real world examples and solutions for nonprofits.

RECENT POSTS

Aug 7, 2014

The Volunteer Myth

multi-ethnic volunteer group hands togetherGo to any fundraising conference these days, and I will bet you a $2-bill that someone will be presenting that the best way of lifting your donors’ performance is by inviting them to volunteer.

We’ve done a couple of research projects with volunteers, and I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.

I take that back. It’s a great idea if the volunteer experience is awesome.

Unfortunately, our research shows that too often donors have an awful volunteer experience. And rather than enhancing the relationship with the organization, it only demonstrates to the donor how incompetent the organization is. Not really the desired result, huh?

So if you are going to try to engage your donors with volunteer opportunities, make sure that you designate the resources to make it an awesome experience. This is no place to cut corners. If it’s not going to be an awesome volunteer experience, don’t bother. It will do you more harm than good.

One More Gift from Sustainers

I think we’d all agree that sustainers are great. Having a group of donors that have committed to giving every month is like money in the bank. And, not surprisingly, a lot of organizations are careful to limit additional appeals to this group so not to alienate any...

read more

Early Returns

We are knee-deep in analyzing last fall’s results. While there is of course some variation in results by organization, the general narrative is that last fall wasn’t great . . . but it wasn’t awful either. It was just OK. What we are seeing is that overall revenue was...

read more

How Fundraising Will Evolve

In honor of International Data Week, I’m sharing how the future of fundraising will evolve. Many people are concerned about fundraising (I’m not btw). For nearly two decades, the “experts” have been predicting the death of direct mail fundraising. Eventually, the...

read more

ARCHIVES

© 2020 Analytical Ones