Ten years ago, Advancement Advisors opened its doors with a straightforward belief: fundraising works best when it’s built on relationships, strategy, honesty and transparency. Since then, we’ve had the privilege of working alongside more than 120 organizations across the region, and our blog has been one of the ways we’ve shared fundraising tips, insights, and lessons learned along the way.
As we celebrate our 10th anniversary, we’ve looked back at the posts that resonated most with our readers, the ones that were shared, saved, and revisited again and again. The result is this collection: our top 10 fundraising tips, drawn from a decade of hands-on work in the field.
We’re sharing them in two parts. This month, tips #1 through #5. Next month, we’ll wrap up with #6 through #10. We hope something here is useful wherever you are in your fundraising journey.
Tip #1: Avoid the Most Common Fundraising Mistakes
With more than 30 years in professional fundraising, I’ve seen the same patterns come up again and again, and most of them are fixable. The mistakes that most often limit fundraising success are: overreliance on a single funding source, pulling back when the economy dips, not asking donors often enough, neglecting stewardship, and underinvesting in professional development. None of these are surprises, but they’re remarkably common. The good news is that once you can name them, you can address them. If your fundraising feels stuck, start here. Read the full blog here.
Tip #2: Use AI to Work Smarter
Nonprofit leaders are understandably trying to figure out where AI fits into their work. Our answer: use it to handle the time-consuming writing, reporting, and research tasks that keep you from doing what only you can do. AI can help you draft appeal letters and email campaigns, scale personalized donor acknowledgments, develop social media content, build board reports, and sharpen your case for support. What it can’t do is build relationships, exercise strategic judgment, or bring the authentic passion that drives your mission. Used with that understanding, AI is a genuinely useful tool. Read the full blog here.
Tip #3: Pay Attention to Trends, Then Adjust Your Strategy
The fundraising landscape shifts constantly, and the organizations that thrive are the ones that pay attention. Right now, that means: focusing on diversifying your donor base and rebuilding the middle of your pipeline; navigating both the opportunities and the limits of foundation funding; watching the impact of new tax law changes on individual and corporate giving; and leaning into strategies that retain new donors and engage younger ones. Peer-to-peer campaigns, challenge matches, and employer matching programs are all worth your attention. Staying curious about trends isn’t just professional development. It’s a strategy. Read the full blog here.
Tip #4: Rethink Event Fundraising: Smarter Strategies for Small Nonprofits
If your fundraising plan relies heavily on events and merchandise sales, you already know the ROI can be discouraging. Small nonprofits with limited staff and budgets need strategies that punch above their weight. Challenge grants, recurring giving programs, stock gifts, and simple planned giving conversations can all generate meaningful revenue without requiring a large team. Here’s a reframe worth internalizing: you probably don’t need more new donors as much as you need to deepen relationships with the donors you already have. Your current donors know your organization and believe in your work. Ask them for a larger, additional, or different kind of gift before you spend resources finding someone new. Read the full blog here.
Tip #5: Focus on Donors, Not Tax Codes
Every time new tax legislation is proposed, nonprofit leaders start worrying about how it will affect giving. It’s a fair concern, but the most important variable in your fundraising isn’t tax policy. It’s the strength of your donor relationships. We said this during the pandemic, after 9/11, and during the Great Recession, and it remains true today: donors give to missions they believe in. What that means practically is that your job in uncertain times is to make donors feel like true partners in the work. Communicate consistently. Demonstrate impact. Say thank you, personally and often. Invite donors to experience your mission firsthand. If donors step back, it’s rarely about taxes. It’s about feeling disconnected. Engagement is the answer. Read the full blog here.
More Coming Next Month
Those are our first five tips, lessons drawn from a decade of fundraising work across the region. We hope at least one of them sparked something useful for your organization.
Next month, we’ll share tips #6 through #10, covering everything from board engagement and year-end strategy to the emotional realities of fundraising work and building a plan for growth. Watch for Part Two in July.
In the meantime, if any of these ideas raised questions or you’d like to talk through how they apply to your organization, we’d love to hear from you. Connect with Maureen Mahoney Hill, CFRE, at maureen@advancementadvisorsgroup.com to learn how Advancement Advisors can help your nonprofit strengthen donor relationships, build long-term fundraising resilience, and achieve meaningful results.
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Maureen Mahoney Hill, CFRE, is the founder and principal of Advancement Advisors, a consulting firm dedicated to helping nonprofits strengthen their fundraising efforts.