No propane?
Did you survive the winter storm? On Thursday night, I wasn’t sure if we were going to. I thought we had prepared well. But on Thursday, I learned that the propane heater we bought didn’t have the required 1lb tank. So we had a heater – and no fuel for it. Home Depot/Lowes/Tractor Supply – Out of 1lb tanks. Amazon – adapter wouldn’t get here for a week. Even local gas stations – no can do. On Friday morning, my wife looked at me to solve this problem. She said she wasn’t sure what to do with the kids if we lost power. So on Friday morning, I did the most embarrassing thing, for a father of three young children, possible. I went and knocked on my neighbors’ doors for fuel. I was nervous. Which neighbor do I go to first? What time should I arrive? Is 730 too early in the morning or just right? I wish I had just talked to our neighbors more before this. I recognize these feelings. They are the same butterflies that I feel at the beginning of any fundraising campaign. Who should I talk to first? How do I segment my list? When is the best time to call? And I defaulted to what I knew worked. I went to the neighbors who had given our children halloween candy every year. I knocked at just before 8, and Ms Autry came to the door. When I mentioned who I was, she immediately recognized me. A smile crossed her face. She said “I’ll call my husband”. At that moment, I felt the relief wash over me. Someone cared what I had to say! Wow! I got up more courage and phoned a friend. “We need propane or an adapter. I’m hoping there are some by your house.” They gladly looked. Went to two stores for me even. Then another friend texted my wife back. They had a 1lb tank. We just needed a refill kit. There was a refill kit at Home Depot. Long story short, we did survive the storm. It ended up being a whole lot of nothing. A few flurries, and a little bit of rain. But it reminded me of the greatest lesson. Whenever you’re nervous, start with the people who already care about you. They will forgive your mistakes, your stutters, your inability to get all the words out. And they will give you the confidence to talk to the next person. And the next. Until your network comes together. And you fund what your nonprofit needs. If you want the full Advice meeting outlines that can help you start your outreach for your fundraising campaign, just watch this video. And comment “Advice” down below. Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round. Dan
You stopped a project again
Every Monday, I set aside for marketing. Today, I was really excited. I had made some tweaks to my group coaching program to make it faster, and more valuable for everyone in it. And then I faced a significant challenge. I couldn’t attend the upcoming meeting of a nonprofit board I was supposed to present it to. So I had to pitch this new offer via video. I’ve done lots of videos before. So I wrote my outline, fired up the camera and…blech. The more I talked in the video, the less I liked it. I was less than 3 minutes in and had already done a half dozen retakes. And you get that familiar pit in your stomach. “This isn’t going to work” “How am I spending so much time on this” “Maybe there’s another way” Everything in me told me to stop. Maybe that’s you, too. Maybe you have a good fundraising idea…and then you tell a few people or go to write that email, and decide it won’t work. So you put that one on the shelf, pick up another, and run excitedly with that one for a week or two… Or maybe you dive into your other responsibilities and think “you’ll get around to it later, when you’ve had some time to think….” Until you put that one on the shelf, too. With not a single one of those projects ever seeing the light of day, or meeting the real test: The first time you put it out there and get rejected. See, we are our own best arguers. We have decades of experience arguing with ourselves. Whatever we come up with as the reason it will work, we can easily come up with another, better reason it won’t. It’s not until we put it to the real test – offering it to someone else and having them make a decision on whether it’s right for them, that we actually know. So I remembered a paper I put on my desk. And I completed the video. I edited a few sections. And I sent it off. Will it work? I’m going to find out. Instead of sitting here with another good idea to add to the stack. Because none of your ideas will make a difference while they’re just sitting there. And if you want this on easy mode, you can watch my video this week. On how you can get your project validated by people before you launch. So you can finally get that great fundraising idea off of your stack of ideas and out in the world. Who knows, it might change it. Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round.
Why Your Nonprofit’s Powerful Story Isn’t Turning Into Donations
Video Do you have a powerful story, but donors still are not giving? If so, you are not alone. Give me a few minutes and I will walk you through exactly what you need to do to turn those “that’s amazing” and “you go” responses into actual gifts for your organization. If you want examples of nonprofit projects that have inspired donors to give, and continue to get funded, leave the word IMPACT at the end of this post and I will share them with you. If you don’t know me yet, my name is Dan. I am a 4x nonprofit founder, I have raised over three million dollars for small nonprofits, and I take a no-BS approach to teaching people how small nonprofit fundraising actually works. If you have a powerful story, you are probably telling it. You are talking about what you struggled with, or what you watched someone else struggle through. You explain how you saw a problem, realized no one was fixing it, and decided to start or join a nonprofit. That story matters. It opens doors. People listen. But it usually stops there. What Donors Actually Need Before They Give Stories alone do not close gifts for small nonprofits. Small nonprofits are a risk. And at the end of the day, donors want clarity. They want to know what their money will do. They want some confidence that their gift will actually help people instead of disappearing into good intentions and overhead. Emotion may get attention, but clarity is what creates trust. And trust is what leads to donations. This is where many nonprofits get stuck. They keep telling the story louder and more often, hoping that passion alone will move people to give. It rarely does. Stop Asking for Donations and Start Funding Projects If you want to raise more money, stop asking people to donate to your nonprofit. Instead, ask them to fund specific projects. Here is what I mean by that. You should come up with three projects that meet a few basic criteria. Each project should cost fifteen thousand dollars or less, so it feels like a manageable bet for a donor. It should be something your organization can complete in ninety days or less, not a multi-year promise. And it should create a numerical result for the people you serve. For example, imagine you are based in Andover, Massachusetts, and your nonprofit works with families experiencing food insecurity. Instead of asking people to donate to your food insecurity nonprofit, you ask them to help thirty kids get access to free school lunches on weekends, something they do not currently have. That is a project donors can understand. Validate Before You Ask for Money This is where a lot of nonprofits fall into the confidence trap. Just because you think your project is good, doesn’t mean your donors will. So we need to create at least two alternatives to get solid feedback on all three. Once you have three projects like this, take them to your existing donors. Ask what they think. Ask which project they would be most likely to support. When five to seven donors clearly lean toward the same project, you move forward with it. At that point, you stop asking people to donate to your organization in general. You ask them to help thirty kids in Andover get access to free school lunches on weekends. This small shift changes everything. You are no longer relying on feel-good language and emotion alone. You are offering a clear outcome, real accountability, and something donors can point to and say happened because they gave. That is how trust is built. And that’s how you get bigger checks. Want Examples of Nonprofit Projects That Get Funded? If you are putting together your own impact project and wondering what other nonprofits are actually getting funded for, leave the word IMPACT at the end of this post and I will share real examples with you. Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round.
Doing the dishes
When I asked my 4 year old, Alex, what he wanted to do tomorrow, he said he wanted to “paint things for people and be helpful”. Painting things for people will be a bit of a challenge. Dad can only draw stick figures. And sometimes even those are missing legs. But I could find him more ways to help around the house. As I pondered what he could do, though, I ran into an interesting challenge. I had to find things he could *actually* be helpful with, while also keeping those things at his skill level. We eventually settled on helping take the dishes out of the dishwasher and put dirty dishes back in. Something he can both do, and is actually helpful. And while we almost lost a plate or two, all the dishes remained unscathed. And he even got to start the dishwasher himself. Yet this successful result is not what most executive directors are getting from their board. Perhaps the number one complaint I hear from EDs is that their board doesn’t help them fundraise. But are you making it easy to help? Are you providing your board with something they can do easily, and is actually helpful? I put together a short video on what we suggest fundraisers do with their board. If you want to get your board to help you fundraise in 2026, then click here to watch it. To getting more dishes, and funding, done in 2026. Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round.
Don’t Panic, Project
Is your nonprofit facing a budget shortfall? Don’t panic, project. I got a tough question that I know a lot in our sector are dealing with right now. “My nonprofit is facing a budget shortfall. How do I reach out to donors and ask for money without panicking?” It’s a fact. Donors are holding back. Whether it’s due to the economy, concerns about the nonprofit sector, or just a lack of trust generally, a lot of donors are reducing their giving. So a lot of nonprofits right now have 5%, 10%, or more budget shortfalls. And you want to tell your donors how urgent it is without coming off as needy. The nonprofit that asked the question had an appeal letter going out to its core donors. Now, they had already been asked for money, and the response was – minimal. This nonprofit needed to get their donors to realize the urgency of the situation. The letter started off with a brisk thank you, and then talked about how tough the year had been, before going into the shortfall the nonprofit needs or bad things will happen (shuttering programs, closing facilities, etc.). Sounds good, at least honest, right? THE HONEST TRUTH Here’s the thing. No one wants to support a sinking ship. When a donor gets an outreach from a nonprofit they support and it’s desperate, you lose trust. You fall into the need category instead of the exciting category. If you do get anything, you’ll be operating at a deficit with that donor. More likely, they’ll just ignore your letter. You can only support so many needs at once. FOR PROFITS HOLD THE ANSWER So you need to do what for profits do. Advertising titan David Oglivy famously said “in a recession, those who stop advertising lose ground.” Smart businesses know that tough times are the time to cast vision the hardest, not pull back. When sales are down, you double down on ads. Explain your benefits better. Launch a new product. You get yourself out of the slump, don’t just hope it passes you by. WHAT YOU DO INSTEAD Instead of panicking, project. Instead of your letter or outreach stressing how much you need for your programs coming up, think bigger. What are your plans for the year? What is something incredibly exciting you can do? What is the gap you’ll be filling? What is the critical need of the people you serve, the incredible work you do, and how you can help even more people next year? Instead of a half hearted thank you and a cry for help. Project what the future holds if they give. And show your donors you are leading the charge towards that future. You’re not in a crisis because the need wasn’t clear. You’re in a crisis because your donors aren’t thrilled by the work you do. That nonprofit? They reworked their letter. Started with a genuine thank you. Talked about their accomplishments. And casted the vision for the future. They raised half their annual campaign goal in one week. Their budget shortfall is almost gone. And they put pluses in the relationship bank account for later. Lead your donors into the future, and they will follow you. If you want a copy of that letter the org sent, happy to give it to you. Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round.
This Book Will Change Your Life
I bought a book last week. Well actually, I bought 20 of them. If you’re my 1:1 client, you’re already getting this (Merry Christmas!) If you’re not, here’s why you should get it. There have been thousands of books written on fundraising. There have been very few books written on asking strangers for money. There have been even fewer that give the exact words to say to get the gift. And there is exactly one written by a major gift fundraiser who has raised hundreds of millions in the past decade. This book is it. And, it’s under 100 pages so you can read it in between Christmas dinner and presents. There used to be only one book I’d recommend to all my clients – Asking, by Jerold Panas. Now there are two. Mary has given you a discount until Christmas – a preorder link is here. Gift yourself with word for word scripts to ask for money – and you could be putting 7 figures under your tree. Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round.
You Thought Grants Would Be Easier
This weekend, I got to spend some quality time with my 3-year old son. As a millennial does, I decided to teach him my phone game. In it, you play a marble. Your job is to roll across the course, across obstacles, over jumps, and down narrow bridges… and get to the end without falling into the water. I watched him try it over and over again. He would drag the ball up a hill, only to watch it roll down again. Splash. He tried this approach over and over again. Drag up > splash. Every time. Eventually he got frustrated and put the game down. Well, he chucked my phone, but he’s working on his emotional regulation. Baby steps. I have tried telling him to swipe fast to get the ball to roll up. But he said no, he wanted to do it this way. Because in his mind, the game is to drag the ball. It got me thinking about how nonprofit leaders approach grants. To most small nonprofit EDs, grants are the way you play the game. You drag the ball up the hill with hours of funder research, long applications, and 6 month waits for a response. Sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don’t. Often you just splash. When you splash, you just drag harder. Here’s the thing though. You can just swipe. You don’t have to spend dozens of hours writing an application and praying to the grant gods that it gets approved. You don’t have to apply for grants that aren’t quite a fit because you’re reaching. You don’t have to pay thousands every month for a grant writer. Right now, there are a “cloud” of potential donors surrounding your nonprofit – vendors who support you, board member connections, influencers, and community leaders – all of whom would love to support your nonprofit. And don’t require a 1,200 word essay to do it. In 2026, commit to looking at other ways to roll the ball. Build a reliable system for your individual and corporate donors. …end your feast-and-famine grant cycle… …and don’t keep dragging the ball up the hill. Like Shari, Glen, and Thomas, who raised $50,000 from individual donors this year and hired staff, Abby, who raised $15,000 and launched her nonprofit, and Bill, who doubled his corporate sponsorship for his event series. Individuals and businesses are ready to support you. You just have to let them. If you’d like to explore what that might look like, you know where to find me. P.S. Want your board to get active in 2026 too? My good friend Sarah is putting on a great class December 11 at 12:00 PM EST – how to get your board to take action in 2026. Check it out and get the help you need to fundraise: Registration link here. To a great 2026, Your fundraising coach, Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round.
The Numbers You Need to Know for Next Year.
Welcome back. Even as hard as I’ve worked my entire career, I’ve always taken Thanksgiving and Christmas off. There’s something about these holidays with family that allows us to rejuvenate, think, and remember the people we ultimately do this work for. Now that the food coma from the first one is wearing off, and you have a few weeks before Christmas, you might be asking “What should I focus on now?” There are, realistically, 21 days this month. Here’s how to make the most of them. If you’re running a fundraising campaign this month, send out your meeting requests this week. Add something to your message like “Something exciting I’m working on next year” and get those donor meetings in. With rare exception, any meetings set up after this week are likely going to be in January or February. Do it now or forever hold your peace. For the rest of you, and for the campaigners once you’re done with your scheduling, the best thing to do this month is get your numbers. And I don’t just mean your total revenue – you should already know that one. I mean the numbers that lead up to your total revenue number. Specifically, I encourage you to review 7 numbers for the last 3 months. Hours, Prospects, Outreach, Responses, Meetings, Donations, and Thank Yous. Hours = The approximate number of hours you and your team spent on fundraising each month. Prospects = The number of new potential donors you added to your CRM each month Outreach = The number of outreaches you made to ask potential donors for meetings. Responses = The number of people who responded to you. Meetings = Self-explanatory Donations = $$$ Thank Yous = The number of thank you messages/cards sent to donors. Review these numbers for November, October, and September, separately so you can see trends month to month. Once you’ve done that, it’s time to review. Here are your expected minimum targets for your nonprofit: Time: 6-10h per person for part time/volunteer, 20 for full time Prospects: Minimum of 10 new per weekOutreach: Should be 100% of prospects, so at least 10 per weekResponses: At least 50% of outreachesMeetings: At least 30% of outreachesDonations: At least 10% of outreaches If any of your numbers aren’t hitting your percentages, start with the topmost one. Congratulations, you’ve now identified the exact roadblock holding back your fundraising in 2026. If your numbers are hitting targets, but you’re still not raising enough funds, the problem is a lack of prospects. Your system works, you just need to feed more people into it. These numbers tell you exactly what you need to fix in your fundraising for next year. I.e. the number one roadblock holding your nonprofit back from fundraising next year. Identify that, and you can make the right changes for next year. P.S. Want my Super Simple Fundraising Tracker to make it easy to track your numbers all year round? Join my email list and you’ll get resources just like this all year round.