Happy Holidays from the Wastyn & Associates team with best wishes for a prosperous and joyous new year.

25-30% of all gifts come in during the month of December yet many fundraising professionals simply send a letter and wait for the money to pour in, wondering why they didn't raise more. These five strategies will help you raise more money this holiday season.

If you have a small and often volunteer-led nonprofit, the question often arises about paying your executive director. Should you? Is it appropriate? How can we afford to? Why should we take money from our mission to support a salary? Learn answers to these and other questions you may have about paying your executive director. (HINT: The answer is YES, pay them!)

November 15 marks National Philanthropy Day. Whether your community has a formal recognition of this day, you can - and should - use this opportunity to celebrate the philanthropists who make your work possible and the staff and donors - that's you - who help them find the joy of giving.

Time is not the friend of development professionals who always have much more to do than hours in the day. Time blocking is one way to stay on top of your tasks to get more done. How do you manage your lengthy to do list without going crazy?

An important and often overlooked part of a successful grant application, this week we explore three ways to ensure that you make the most of your grant budget instead of leaving it as a last-minute afterthought for your application.

When you know your organization needs to change, you need staff ready, willing, and able to implement that change. But I'm a firm believer that change doesn't happen to people, it should happen with people. Learn how and why to get your staff prepared for change and how to effectively engage them in the change process.

The Greek Philosopher Heraclitus said "the only constant in life is change." If the last decade or so taught us anything, it was the truth in that statement. With change inevitable, is your organization poised to manage change, whether imposed from external forces or your choice?

Do you struggle to recruit volunteers? You might look at your communication methods and the activities you offer to see if you are reaching the right demographic. That is, each generation has a different reasonh for volunteering and a preferred method for outreach to them. When you match their needs, they will come eager to help!

If you treat all your donors the same, you are leaving some or many of them behind. Each generation has different preferences in how they like to support an organization and how you can best reach them. Tailoring your message can help generate more money today and in the future.

One simple tip will help improve your grant success. It doesn’t take much time or even much talent. What is it? Watch and find out!

Learn how you can and should leverage your executive committee for the good and growth of your organization.

This week we explore the role of the governance committee and whether your organization's board should have one. (Hint: YES!)

Try the flipped agenda to get your board more engaged and improve your organization.

Leverage your outing to maximize the impact not just on event day, but for the entire year.

Improve your donor retention and bottom line.

These tips can help you figure out the best ways to thank your grantors and keep them engaged in your work between grant application cycles.

Here’s how can you maximize your success and raise more money in this fund development environment.

How to use your board committees to maximize your organization’s effectiveness.

Tips on how to integrate AI into your nonprofit work.