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Steier Tips

After nearly a quarter century of helping nonprofits plan, reach and exceed their fundraising goals, we’ve accomplished a lot – and learned a thing or two. Our Steier Tips page features the latest Steier Group fundraising advice from our team of experts, case studies and helpful insight to consider as you plan your next campaign.

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 22 2020

Christmas Communications Toolkit

By Uncategorized

We invite you to share this Christmas Guide with members of your parish, as a way to further engage your people and help everyone celebrate Christmas whether at home or in church. Here are a few suggestions to help you distribute this resource to your parishioners: Post the guide to your parish website; include a link to download. Promote it on social media; include a link to download (sample message below). Send it out through FlockNote or similar email platform (sample message below). Print hard copies and distribute at Masses or leave in the back of church. Develop daily social…

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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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Dec 15 2020

Fourth Sunday of Advent Communications Toolkit

By Uncategorized

We invite you to share these weekly Advent Guides with members of your parish, as a way to further engage your people and help everyone prepare for Christ’s coming on Christmas. Here are a few suggestions to help you distribute this resource to your parishioners: Post the guide to your parish website; include a link to download. Promote it on social media; include a link to download (sample message below). Send it out through FlockNote or similar email platform (sample message below). Print hard copies and distribute at Masses or leave in the back of church. Develop daily social media…

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Dec 08 2020

Third Sunday of Advent Communications Toolkit

By Uncategorized

We invite you to share these weekly Advent Guides with members of your parish, as a way to further engage your people and help everyone prepare for Christ’s coming on Christmas. Here are a few suggestions to help you distribute this resource to your parishioners: Post the guide to your parish website; include a link to download. Promote it on social media; include a link to download (sample message below). Send it out through FlockNote or similar email platform (sample message below). Print hard copies and distribute at Masses or leave in the back of church. Develop daily social media…

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Dec 01 2020

Second Sunday of Advent Communications Toolkit

By Uncategorized

We invite you to share these weekly Advent Guides with members of your parish, as a way to further engage your people and help everyone prepare for Christ’s coming on Christmas. Here are a few suggestions to help you distribute this resource to your parishioners: Post the guide to your parish website; include a link to download. Promote it on social media; include a link to download (sample message below). Send it out through FlockNote or similar email platform (sample message below). Print hard copies and distribute at Masses or leave in the back of church. Develop daily social media…

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Nov 23 2020

First Sunday of Advent Communications Toolkit

By Uncategorized

In order to support Catholic parishes and dioceses during this pandemic year, the Steier Group will be publishing a series of Advent and Christmas Guides for you to share with those you serve. These free weekly guides include ideas on how to celebrate each Sunday of Advent, as well as the day’s scripture readings and highlights from the liturgy. If you’d like to sign up to receive the guides, please do so here. We invite you to share these weekly Advent Guides with members of your parish, as a way to further engage your people and help everyone prepare for…

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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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Sep 30 2020

Roadmap to recovery

By Steier Wire

To say that the events of 2020 flipped fundraising (and the world as a whole) on its head would be an understatement: millions sick, hundreds of thousands dead, cities and states locked down, churches and schools closed, economic struggles, millions more out of work. Some Catholic communities are suffering too. Mass attendance is down as parishes grapple with local restrictions and safety concerns. Offertory income is declining. In some extreme cases, operational shortfalls are causing Catholic schools to shut their doors permanently. All the while, pastors wonder if parishioners will ultimately return in the same numbers they did before the…

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