Leaky Bucket Blog

Welcome to the Leaky Bucket blog, where we discuss everything related to measuring, managing, and improving fundraising performance. And some other stray thoughts from time to time.

The Latest From Our Blog

The data is in, and email marketing is hard with reports showing a 7% decline in revenue generated from email in 2023.

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Are you still 'buying' the overhead-ratio myth? Even worse, are your donors or grantmakers buying it? Keeping your overhead artifically low is a route to disaster. Here are a few secrets for overcoming the Overhead Myth in your nonprofit. Adopt them and see how much more impact you can achieve.

Donor retention rates getting you down? You're not alone; rates have average 40% since 2005. But that also means we're losing about half of our collective potential income if we don't fix this problem. Here's the secret to improving your donor retention rates.

Stop trying to do more and better activities. Focus instead of getting RESULTS. Manage fundraising for productivity!!

Events don't raise money. They raise LEADS. See how.

Could we solve high staff turnover and low donor retention rates in one fell swoop? The data suggest we could - by improving management practices.

BoardSource has a great article on Measuring Fundraising Effectiveness, and you should read it. But I think they overlooked one important concept - what it takes to manage and empower the people who actually DO the fundraising for your nonprofit.

Press Releases

Explore our collection of press releases covering key fundraising insights, donor motivations, and nonprofit strategies.

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SMART Practices Resource Library

Check out our library of free resources you can use to improve your fundraising, make better decisions, and more. You’ll find white papers and other articles, plus some powerful calculators.

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