By Alan Sharpe, CFREThe ten dumbest words ever spoken in the English language are: “We don’t have money in our fundraising budget for that.”

The people who say this most often are board members. Uninformed board members. Timid board members. Board members who don’t understand that charitable organizations live or die by their donors, and that you and I must spend money to acquire, steward, upgrade and retain our donors.

The surest way to win board approval for your donor acquisition and stewardship budget is to know your long-term donor value. [Read more...]

By Alan Sharpe, CFRENothing says more about the success of your fundraising program than the lifetime value of your average donor.

Average lifetime value, of course, is the gross income you receive from your typical donor during the time the donor is giving to your charity.

Donors to your charity give different amounts. Some give a lot. Some give a little. Some give often, some give seldom. Some give one gift. Others give multiple gifts. Some give for a year. Others give for decades. Some give through one channel (direct mail, for example). Others give through multiple channels (direct mail, online, phone, special events).

Your goal as a fundraiser is to figure out how long your average donor gives to your organization, and how much that donor gives during that “lifetime.” You should know what this number is for every fundraising channel, and for all channels combined. [Read more...]

By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
Know how to boil a frog?

You don’t just drop him into a pot of boiling water. He’ll jump out.

Instead, you place him in a pot of cool water, then warm the pot gradually to a boil. The frog grows accustomed to the rising temperature, until it’s too late. He boils.

Know how to go bankrupt as a charity? [Read more...]

By Alan Sharpe, CFRE
If you appeared on the reality TV show Dragon’s Den (or Shark Tank), pitching your charity to investors, would they give you any money?

Watch a few episodes of either show and you’ll quickly discover the most common mistake wannabe entrepreneurs make: They don’t know their numbers.

They don’t know their costs. Or their break-even point. Or the size of their market. They don’t know the numbers that will persuade investors to fund their business venture. So they walk away without a penny.

In fundraising, you live or die by your numbers. You can’t hope to get your budget approved (or hold onto your job) unless you can demonstrate that you know your business. And your business is numbers.

Here are the six numbers you need to know cold. [Read more...]