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Steier Tips

May 14 2021

Capital campaign fundraising costs explained

By Steier Tips

Warning! This Steier Tips article is laced with clichés and overused statements – but they all are purposely included to make the point that partnering with a professional stewardship, fundraising and development firm to run your capital campaign is a wise investment. Don’t go it alone (cliché No. 1) Launching a capital campaign is important, serious business. Some nonprofits are equipped to run their own – if they have a team of professionals on staff who have the experience and time to manage it. Keep in mind, running a campaign is a full-time job – which is why we assign…

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Apr 30 2021

How JPII Newman Center overcame COVID, debt crisis to run a successful campaign

By Steier Tips

A few months into her new role as director of advancement with the St. John Paul II Newman Center, Susan Gnann knew she would soon begin preparing for a fundraising campaign. “I looked at the debt service line item and saw a deficit of $742,000 on a $1.6 million budget,” Gnann said. “I saw that nearly half of our budget was debt. I knew I couldn’t talk to a donor about mission when their money wasn’t going to support our mission or a retreat. I knew we had to run a campaign.” Faced with a $14.6 million construction debt, Gnann…

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Apr 15 2021

Customized donor recognition is key to maintaining relationships

By Steier Tips

Donor recognition and expressing gratitude for gifts received are important development responsibilities for every nonprofit organization. Acknowledging a donor’s generosity begins with the understanding that receiving a gift is the difficult part. Thanking them, it would seem, should be the enjoyable part. Then why do so many nonprofit organizations skip it – or fail to take time to properly thank their donors? Unfortunately, it is because they have already moved on to seeking that next gift. That is a mistake. There are different ways an organization can recognize donors for their generosity. The first is group recognition. Most organizations do…

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Mar 31 2021

Strong leadership allows Rice Memorial High School to fundraise through pandemic

By Steier Tips

COVID-19 was officially deemed a pandemic on March 11, 2020. That day all aspects of American life began retreating from the public square, exemplified by a 1,200-point drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average — a plunge that ended an 11-year bull market. A week later, on March 18, the leadership at Rice Memorial High School in Burlington, Vermont decided to continue their fundraising campaign. Similar projects across the country were paused out of concern for the impending social and economic fallout. But Rice Memorial’s leaders went on to run a successful campaign thanks to their vision, skill and boldness. “We had…

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Mar 17 2021

Tools to stock your fundraising toolkit in 2021

By Steier Tips

The fundraising landscape changed dramatically in 2020. But the Steier Group’s message to our partners has remained the same – keep communicating, keep sharing your story, keep shaping your vision and keep asking for support. Do not leave these most important tools in your arsenal on the sidelines. Your donors want to support your organization and are eager to help. Your needs are real and aren’t going away. Whether it is a debt reduction campaign or a campaign to expand your campus, address deferred maintenance, or strengthen an endowment, nonprofits across the country are finding success. As you strive for…

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Feb 18 2021

Holy Trinity Parish found fundraising success during pandemic

By Steier Tips

The easy out when COVID-19 hit would have been for Holy Trinity Parish to delay its capital campaign until the pandemic had passed. With that approach, the Catholic community in Eldorado Hills, California, would still be waiting to relaunch its campaign. Instead, the parish continued with its effort to reduce historic debt with a temporary redirect to shore up its offertory during the initial wave of the pandemic, said Jeremy Youngers, parish life director. “Our parish responded in amazing ways,” he said. “Our approach was intentional in every step. It came down to our pastor communicating the message.” Holy Trinity, months earlier,…

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Feb 04 2021

Why should we conduct a debt reduction campaign?

By Steier Tips

Is debt holding your organization back from reaching its full potential? Debt can be unavoidable – constructing a new facility or expanding your campus is vital yet expensive. But, often, organizations struggle under the weight of debt – holding back expansion and growth or services offered. Servicing debt can be a daunting challenge for a parish and a strain on the operational budget. Through a debt reduction campaign, nonprofits can eliminate a substantial amount of debt (or all of it) in a short period of time and repurpose those funds toward other essential priorities. While the pandemic may seem like…

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Jan 22 2021

Lessons learned during the pandemic will stick with fundraisers

By Steier Tips

The extreme nature of the changes to society during the pandemic challenged fundraisers to evolve our strategies – almost overnight – in ways that were and still are unimaginable. In our current environment, with social distancing restrictions, quarantines and face masks, there is one constant – there is no magic recipe for fundraising. There are, however, many tools that can be adapted strategically by an organization to ensure fundraising success. They helped many nonprofits stay above water in 2020 and will be just as important in 2021 and beyond as vaccines roll out and things evolve into a new normal….

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Dec 21 2020

Five ways to steward your donors from a safe social distance

By Steier Tips

Each Thanksgiving, millions of Americans share what they’re thankful for. Perhaps your family even went around the dinner table (or Zoom call) and individually expressed gratitude. During this holiday season, nonprofit organizations should be doing the same: expressing gratitude. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has never been a more important time to steward your donors. Though millions of Americans remain out of work and millions more have experienced reductions in pay, donors have stepped up to support charitable causes. The Chronicle of Philanthropy reported that charitable giving increased by 7.5% during the first half of 2020 when compared to…

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Oct 16 2020

Don’t ignore the benefits of planned giving

By Steier Tips

When we met with Bob and Cecilia as part of their parish planning study, we asked them 12 questions. Question 10 was: “Have you considered St. Mary’s in your will?” They looked at each other and said, “we’ve thought about it, but we’ve never gotten around to it, can you help?” Yes, we can. With a phone call from a grateful pastor and a helpful diocesan employee in the development office, Bob and Cecilia completed their will bequeathing St. Mary’s their home, valued at $450,000. Would you be willing to spend a little time and money if it resulted in…

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