Launching a campaign can seem daunting. Through the years, we’ve faced plenty of challenges that have the potential to derail campaigns and haunt development directors. Here are some of the top fears of development directors and how to overcome each: A Bad Donor Database: You don’t want to go to a cupboard you think is stocked only to find nothing on the shelves. Donors come and go, so your database must be equally fluid. An outdated donor database wreaks havoc on a campaign. When there is no list of potential donors and no giving history, it makes accurate donor evaluation…
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When you learn your organization has been named in a donor's will it can be a very exciting, but sometimes confusing, time. The planned gift may be from a faithful donor who is well known to you and your organization. But sometimes it’s from a donor who has no apparent connection to your organization, and you have no record of them in your database. In either case, you should ask three important questions after learning that someone has remembered your organization in his/her will: “Who is the personal representative?”: The personal representative (or executor) is the person named in the…
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