You're the Executive Director of a small nonprofit, and your Development Director just quit. Again. You've heard the average tenure of a Development Director is only 16 months...but it's devastatingly disruptive to lose another member of your senior leadership after less than two years. Sound familiar?

We all throw around the stats around development staff attrition, but it's rare that we talk about why.

There are tons of surveys and research about the high attrition rate for nonprofit development directors and it ultimately comes down to unrealistic expectations, a lack of investment in fundraising tools, systems, and people, and poor leadership.  

It’s far too common for nonprofit leaders to lose their development staff because they don’t know how to retain them.  But keeping them maybe be more accessible than it seems…as a nonprofit leader, you can retain your staff and help them thrive. But to do so, you have to be willing to understand - and address - the root causes of attrition. 

So how can we retain our development staff?

Ah, your donor database. We love to hate it. 

Most of us don’t have a dedicated database manager (can you imagine? Living. The. Dream). So our databases are often neglected, rarely used, and…as a result not that useful.

But there are some things you can do to actually use your database. And the more you use it, the more it can guide and shape your fundraising. Remember, we’re all about making our tools work for us! 

Fundraising is emotional work. We tell stories and build relationships. But we also do a surprising amount of routine, administrative work. So, can we use automation and software for our routine fundraising tasks, while still keeping the personal touch?

Yes. In fact, automating our administrative fundraising work means we have more time (and more energy) for relationship-based fundraising. Let's look at five ways that we actually use automation to build stronger relationships and free ourselves up for real creative thinking - and better fundraising.

Segmentation. It's a word fundraisers love to throw around...although very few of us do it well. So, let's put our money where our mouths are, and start segmenting our data.

So what is segmentation? When we segment our data, we're able to group our supporters based on shared characteristics (e.g. age, donation history, geographical area, etc.) Doing this gives us a deeper understanding of donors and what drives them to give. As a result, we can send more tailored messages that appeal to each group, which creates more value for our nonprofit.

It's time to stop wasting your money on tools you're not using.

And it's time to really use your tools to save you time...and headaches.

Look, I know the nonprofit sector is not known for its tech-savviness. We're bargain shoppers, coupon clippers, free-software users, and sometimes tech Luddites. But we can - and should - start using the many tools available!

Technology and tools are an important part of any fundraising or nonprofit operation, from our websites to our CRMs. However, it's not enough to just have them – you need to use them effectively in order to see results. That's why we love conducting a regular tool and tech audit - to see the full landscape of our tech tools and figure out which ones we can use better and which ones we might not even need. It also helps us make sure that we are using the tools to the fullest extent possible and that we're not paying for tools that could be simplified or replaced. Conducting a tool and tech audit can help you work smarter, not harder, and keep your costs down!

So, you hosted a wildly successful fundraising event last year and this year, you want to grow your corporate sponsorship program. 

After sponsors wrote the check last year, you sent them a heartfelt thank you note but realized you haven’t connected with them since. Now you’re racking your brain for the best way to make the ask again.

And, maybe like us, you’re really sick of the transactional nature of event sponsorships and are ready to shake things up. 

What if there was a better way to secure corporate sponsors?

So, you’re planning a fundraising event for your nonprofit and you want to secure some corporate sponsors. But you're not sure how to go about it….maybe your last sponsorship deck didn’t get any sponsors, or you spent more time on the phone than you did planning the event…or you’re just not sure what to include to make this year’s event a success.

Good news: a winning sponsorship deck is simpler than you think! A good sponsorship deck is a powerful tool you can use when you’re pitching corporate sponsors for your next fundraising event.

One of the common challenges people face when pitching corporate sponsors is not knowing what to include in their sponsorship deck. This can lead to a lot of wasted time and energy spent on putting together a deck that doesn't actually tell potential sponsors what they need to know. So, how can we do better?

So you want to throw a fundraising event. Sounds fun! But before you dive into your event (and hopefully start raking in donations) hit pause: fundraising events are not magic bullets...they take a lot of planning and hard work, and the return on investment can be pretty low.

It's summer! And whether your fiscal year is almost over, or you're smack-dab in the middle of the year, summer often comes with a pause in frantic fundraising activities.

As an amazing nonprofiteer, you know that grant writing is essential for getting grants (obviously!). But what do you need to know about crafting grants that will catch the attention of reviewers? 

The Giant Squid Group team writes a lot of grants, and we have a running joke: “Hey, what's it like to be a grant writer?” 

When I put on my “grant writer hat” and dive into the song-and-dance of grant deadlines, character counts, and funder priorities, sometimes it feels like I’m doing nothing but reinventing the wheel.

Congratulations on winning a grant! Your nonprofit has worked tirelessly to get this far - but there's still more work to be done!

If you are struggling to get grant funding, there’s a good chance the goals and objectives you include in your grant proposal are the reason.

You’re looking for ways to raise money for your new nonprofit, and want to hire a pro to help you win grants. Your budget is tight now, but if you’re awarded the grant, you’ll have tens of thousands of dollars. So, why not pay your grant writer a percentage of the grant you receive, since it’s the grant writer’s job to get you that money anyways, right?

Most nonprofits are laser-focused on getting donors. But what about keeping them?

Donor stewardship is a critical aspect to any fundraising operation. If we had a nickel for how many ED’s have told us they don’t like making thank you calls, we’d be on an island getaway right now!

So, you’re a grant writer and are submitting several applications a month. You find yourself needing to streamline your process to meet deadlines and win more money! My friend, it's time you consider adding a boilerplate to your toolbox - assuming you don’t already have one.

Sometimes, communicating with donors is scary. There’s a perceived power dynamic between the money-holder and the money-asker that drives the stories we tell. What would the donor want to hear? How do I tell our story in 750 characters? Does this story make us seem less than perfect?