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SURPRISE PARTIES AND CELEBRATIONS

Posted by DBD Team

Organizations with a strong endowment fund generally have a story about how they got there. It's a story of two parties.

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Topics: Endowment, Endowment Development, Planned Giving, Nonprofit

BUSTING ENDOWMENT MYTHS

In the world of fund development, endowment programs usually get the least amount of attention. This is a shame, because these gifts often represent a donor’s sense of legacy. Why do we put off the cultivation of endowment prospects? I propose that many of us are laboring under false beliefs about developing endowment program. It’s time to bust some myths!

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Topics: Fundraising, Endowment, Endowment Development, Nonprofit Staff, Fund Development, Planned Giving

TURNING MEMORIES INTO LEGACY

Posted by Mike Bussey

One weekend nearly a decade ago, my wife and I drove 650 miles to a camp in Northern Minnesota to have dinner with our youngest son.

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Topics: Camp Fundraising, Endowment

JUST DO IT

Posted by Mike Bussey

This month, the Donor By Design Group is challenging you to take action, moving from resolutions to results. Today’s topic? Stop thinking about endowment and just do it!  

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Topics: Endowment, Financial Development

MOMENTUM

Posted by Bruce Berglund

This month, the Donor By Design Group is challenging you to take action, moving from resolutions to results. Today’s topic? Creating and keeping momentum in your campaign.  

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Topics: Capital Campaign, Endowment, Annual Campaign, Campaign Leadership, Fundraising Management

BEST OF DBD 2016: ASKING

Posted by DBD Team

As we come to the end of 2016, we’re taking a look back at the posts that inspired the most conversations on the blog and with our clients. Today’s topic? Asking for a Gift.

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Topics: Art Of The Ask, Volunteer Management, Endowment, Annual, Capital, Board Management, Best Of

THE FOURTH QUARTER

Posted by Jan Brogdon

If you know me, you know this is my favorite time of the year: FOOTBALL SEASON! Football is a game with four quarters. The fourth quarter can be a critical time in not only the game being played, but also sets the tone for future games yet to be played.

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Topics: Volunteer Development, Endowment, Annual, Capital, Year-End Giving, Year-End

THE LONG HAUL

Posted by Thom Peters
“Animation is like telling a joke and waiting three years to see if anyone laughs.” – Ed Catmull, Pixar Studios

I heard Ed Catmull share this in an interview about the making of Toy Story. His point was that working on the film required a great vision, patience, and the confidence to know that what they were working on was right without the immediate feedback.

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Topics: Endowment

THREE LESSONS FROM THE DEATH OF AN ICON

Posted by Lora Dow

I was as shocked as anyone at the death of Prince, and deeply saddened at the news that he may have died without a will. The fact that his estate will now become part of the public record – and that any potential fight over it will be national news – is causing many people, not just in the nonprofit world, to have conversations about estate planning and protecting the assets they’ve built over the years.

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Topics: Endowment, Estate Planning, Planned Giving

WHO ARE YOUR BEST FRIENDS?

Posted by Mike Bussey
Thank you for asking, but we’ve already made an endowment commitment to your organization.

If you’re visiting with your best endowment prospects, invitations to become members of your legacy society quite often produce this response. And it is gratifying to hear! The challenge is to identify your best endowment prospects – your organization’s “best friends.”

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Topics: Endowment, Donor Prospect, Planned Giving

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