DH Leonard Consulting & Grant Writing Services
JULY 15, 2025
In a previous post, Part 1: Behind the Curtain , we shared some fundamental lessons from our experience serving as volunteer reviewers for Unfunded List grant applications, focusing on storytelling, ensuring realistic accuracy, and leveraging reviews. Now, let’s dive deeper into more nuanced strategies that can truly set your application apart.
Ann Green's Nonprofit
JULY 15, 2025
It’s summer! I hope you’ll get a chance to take a vacation or just some time off. It may be quieter at your nonprofit, or maybe it isn’t considering everything that’s going on, especially in the U.S. Either way, you don’t want to be too quiet and ignore your donors. Summer is a great time to do some relationship building. You should communicate with your donors at least once a month and that includes the summer months.
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Clairification
JULY 14, 2025
In Part 1 , we reframed what digital fundraising is really about: not just mastering tools, but learning to connect with heart and humanity — in the places your donors already live: online. Now, it’s time to turn insight into action. Whether you’re launching your first online campaign or refining what you’re already doing, these four essentials will help you reach more donors, raise more dollars, and deepen relationships — all while staying true to your mission.
GrantNews
JULY 17, 2025
Ah… the sweet sound of support grants for Music Programs. Remember school music programs? Students tuning instruments, violins tucked under eager chins, and a school gym transformed into a stage where brass instruments gleamed like golden sunshine. Those were the days, orchestra, marching band, the drum line… For many schools today, music programs are a thing of the past.
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This prompt guide for ChatGPT contains 20+ tested ChatGPT prompts, along with tips on how to use this tool the best way. Nonprofits can engage with ChatGPT to brainstorm ideas, refine project plans, and craft compelling narratives for grant proposals.
CauseVox
JULY 15, 2025
In a world where donors have endless causes they could support, the fact that they chose yours is a big deal. It means they saw something in your mission, something worth believing in. But now comes the most important part: making them feel seen, appreciated, and inspired to stay connected. What you do next—how you welcome, thank, and follow up—sets the tone for your entire relationship.
Grants & Fundraising Brief brings together the best content for grants & fundraising professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Clairification
JULY 17, 2025
In a world speeding toward automation, authentic human relationships are becoming a rare — and priceless — asset. Imagine you’re on a third date with someone you really like. You’ve taken them to your favorite restaurant — the one you take your mom to when she’s in town. But instead of Louis, the sommelier who always gets the wine pairing right, there’s a sleek black AI device on the table.
Blackbaud
JULY 16, 2025
A donor cultivation cycle is a systematic process that helps nonprofits build lifelong relationships with their donors through five key stages: identification, qualification, cultivation, solicitation, and stewardship. The relationship between an organization and a donor can take weeks, months, or even years to foster. Despite the length of time it takes to acquire a donor, many nonprofits struggle with donor retention.
Just Write Grants
JULY 16, 2025
Get your nonprofit ready for fall grant season! Learn how to build a grant calendar, create prep checklists, avoid burnout, and craft powerful storytelling to secure more funding.
Grant Writer Team
JULY 17, 2025
Raising funds to boost your nonprofit donations in a fast-changing digital world requires more than the usual tactics—it takes innovation. If your nonprofit is looking for fresh ways to increase giving, you’re not alone. With donor fatigue and changing giving habits, organizations must get creative to keep donations flowing. Here are six innovative and actionable strategies to help you inspire generosity and unlock new revenue streams.
GrantNews
JULY 14, 2025
If you’re a small business owner looking for funding, understanding how grant cycles work is crucial to increasing your chances of success. Unlike loans or investments, grants are limited-time opportunities that come and go based on specific funding cycles set by governments, foundations, and corporations. This means that the grants available today might disappear tomorrow, replaced by new programs with different goals and eligibility requirements.
Blackbaud
JULY 17, 2025
A giving circle is a group of individuals who pool their charitable donations and collectively decide how to distribute those funds to nonprofits, schools, or other specific causes. From 2017 to 2023, participation in collective giving grew to 4,000 giving circles contributing more than $3.1 billion to social causes. As the fundraising and grant-based landscape faces political headwinds, giving circles offer nonprofits and schools a resilient, community-driven approach to diversifying revenue st
Wild Apricot
JULY 15, 2025
Year over year, nonprofits find that email messaging is the most effective way to get the word out. After all, 88% of people check their email every day , and 58% of people check their email first , before their social media. Your important messages – whether it’s about fundraising, new volunteer opportunities, upcoming events or new member activities – should all be sent via email.
DonorSnap
JULY 17, 2025
Hosting a nonprofit event is a great way to engage supporters and raise funds, but planning and managing events can be complex without the right tools. If you’re already using DonorSnap, you know it’s a powerful CRM for tracking donors, recording event attendance, and managing communications. However, when it comes to selling tickets, setting limits, and creating a streamlined registration process, event-specific software like EventSnap can make a big difference.
Candid
JULY 17, 2025
Running a nonprofit today is harder than ever, making it feel almost impossible to build a fundraising program while staying focused on advancing your mission. And our mission here at Candid is to get you the information you need to do good. That’s why we’ve revamped Candid’s learning site to provide you with a streamlined set of resources, all in one place.
Blackbaud
JULY 15, 2025
No matter your cause, GivingTuesday is the biggest fundraising event of the year for nonprofits and schools. Planning ahead for your GivingTuesday email campaign will help you maximize this once-a-year opportunity and garner transformational support for your mission. When is GivingTuesday? In 2025, GivingTuesday is set for December 2. That’s less than a month from the end of the year, another big giving day for many nonprofits and schools.
NonProfit PRO
JULY 16, 2025
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GrantNews
JULY 16, 2025
If you’re a startup and you’re not yet generating revenue, would you still be able to be eligible for grants? The answer is: Absolutely! Many grants are designed to support early-stage startups, even if they haven’t generated any revenue yet. Grant programs typically focus on the potential impact of your idea, innovation, or how your business addresses specific needs within a community or industry.
Center for Effective Philanthropy
JULY 15, 2025
A newly released report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), “Voices That Matter,” finds that nearly all foundation respondents report actively working to understand the needs of the people […] The post Funders: Are We Really Listening? An Opportunity for Reflection and Change appeared first on The Center for Effective Philanthropy.
Blackbaud
JULY 18, 2025
Government grants are always competitive. But with fewer opportunities coming from federal and state programs, your organization needs to have all your financial ducks in a row if you want to earn—and keep—government funding. Government grants operate differently than most other revenue streams. They come with strict compliance requirements, detailed reporting obligations, and potential penalties that could result in claw backs if you aren’t careful with your spending and documentation.
NonProfit PRO
JULY 18, 2025
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GrantNews
JULY 15, 2025
Running or launching a program that serves individuals with disabilities takes passion, commitment – and money. Whether you’re supporting accessibility, providing vocational training, offering therapy services, or launching inclusive education initiatives, funding can make or break your ability to deliver impact. The good news? There are real opportunities to secure funding for disability services and programs.
Instrumentl
JULY 15, 2025
Discover the top 6 grant management best practices for nonprofits to secure funding, streamline processes, and boost sustainability with AI tools and expert tips.
Community Boost
JULY 14, 2025
Donor-advised funds ( DAFs ) are one of the most flexible and tax-efficient ways individuals can support the causes they care about most. A DAF is a charitable giving account donors use to make contributions, receive immediate tax deductions , and recommend grants to nonprofit organizations over time. In this blog, we’ll explain how DAFs work, why they matter for charitable organizations like yours , and how GoFundMe Giving Funds simplify access to this powerful giving channel to help propel yo
NonProfit PRO
JULY 15, 2025
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Grant Professionals Association
JULY 17, 2025
After serving as an in-house institutional giving director for many years, I eventually launched my own fundraising consultancy. When I felt noticeably more balanced after that transition, something told me to start researching burnout prevention. I’d seen too many talented colleagues, especially in fundraising and leadership roles, in deep suffering as they worked themselves into the ground.
Candid
JULY 15, 2025
In San Diego, California, refugees displaced from Myanmar (formerly Burma), Somalia, Afghanistan, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and other countries have resettled in Mid-City. Over the decades, they’ve transformed this once-blighted area into an urban village of small businesses, restaurants, and cultural spaces. Today, due to rising real estate prices, families who have resettled here—many after enduring war, persecution, and climate disasters—are finding themselves housing insecure and displaced ag
Blackbaud
JULY 17, 2025
This Q&A series aims to provide readers with valuable insights from changemakers across the social impact community. Cindy Sarver is the digital fundraising operations manager at American Cancer Society (ACS) , playing a pivotal role in advancing the fight against cancer through innovative digital fundraising initiatives. She is a champion of American Cancer Society’s mission, spearheading initiatives that inspire hope, empower communities, and ultimately contribute to the eradicatio
NonProfit PRO
JULY 18, 2025
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Grant Writing Made Easy
JULY 15, 2025
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed juggling grant deadlines, endless document requests, and repetitive tasks, you’re not alone. Nonprofit grantseeking, especially for grassroots teams or solo grant writers, often feels like an infinite cycle of scrambling and stress. But there’s good news: your grant process is about to become much easier and more strategic, thanks to our brand-new AI Grants Hub.
Hands-On Fundraising
JULY 15, 2025
When donors continue giving to your nonprofit year after year, it lays the foundation for sustainable growth and long-term impact. In addition to the more stable, reliable funding that longtime supporters can provide, retention is much more cost-effective than acquisition. Nonprofits often spend up to $1.50 per dollar raised to acquire a new donor. But […] The post 4 Best Practices for Increasing Nonprofit Donor Retention appeared first on Hands-On Fundraising.
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