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Maximizing Social Impact Through Fundraising Strategies

We help maximize social impact through more effective fundraising strategies, stronger governance, and better storytelling, fostering charity partnerships and enhancing donor collaboration to meet donor expectations while driving collective impact.

Go to about causemark inc.

Maximizing Social Impact Through Fundraising Strategies

Go to about causemark inc.

RECENT BLOG POSTS

Why Donors Want More Collaboration

The expectation of charity funders is evolving. Today, they don’t just want to give — they want to see their generosity create greater impact through collaboration. They’re asking charities to connect the dots, reduce duplication, and work together toward shared outcomes. Drawing on real-world examples and leadership insights, this piece explores what true collaboration looks like, why it matters, and how boards, CEOs, and fundraisers can make it happen. When organizations align around collective impact, they don’t just raise more money — they raise more trust, transforming generosity into a movement for lasting change.

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Two people smiling at a dining table with white flowers behind them.

Mentors Who Shape Us: Lessons from Jean Crawford

This past week, I lost one of the most important mentors of my career. Jean Crawford was more than a mentor — she became a dear friend and someone I regarded as family. Her influence reminded me that the role of a mentor is not to hand us answers, but to challenge us, lift us, and help us become who we’re meant to be. She embodied the essence of charity partnerships, showing how collective impact can be achieved through meaningful connections. If you’ve experienced a mentor like Jean, you understand their profound impact, much like the way donor collaboration can elevate social impact. And if you haven’t, I encourage you to find a mentor or become one yourself, as meeting donor expectations often starts with strong guidance and support. Read the full article.

Five hands holding interconnected gears symbolizing teamwork.

Systems Enabled Stewardship (including AI)

In charities, we sometimes assume that passion, vision, fundraising, and the human stories that inspire us are the most important elements—and they are indeed vital. A charity's mission is to make the world better through effective charity partnerships and collective impact. However, we often overlook the less glamorous backbone of every successful charity: its systems, which are essential for meeting donor expectations and facilitating donor collaboration to maximize social impact.

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Online executive program on Generative AI for Business by Rotman School of Management.

How Charity Leaders Can Get Smart on AI (Without the Overwhelm)

Artificial Intelligence is making headlines daily, raising questions about its role in our personal and professional lives. Charity leaders are particularly challenged with how to leverage AI in their charity partnerships to enhance collective impact. Board members are increasingly inquiring about what their organizations are doing regarding AI, especially in terms of meeting donor expectations and fostering donor collaboration. Where should we begin to integrate AI for greater social impact?

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AI technology for enhancing fundraising efforts.

What Charity Leaders Need to Know About AI—Right Now”

Are you hesitant to use artificial intelligence (AI) as a time-saving tool? Or are you fully embracing it? Perhaps you find yourself somewhere in between. In charity partnerships, there’s a growing interest in how senior leadership can leverage AI to strengthen fundraising efforts, enhance donor collaboration, and improve organizational performance for greater collective impact. This exploration can help meet evolving donor expectations and ultimately amplify social impact.

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Hands holding puzzle pieces symbolizing charity, community, volunteering, and fundraising integration.

Why is Integration so Hard - And What Can We Do About It?

If you work in the charitable sector as I have for many years, you’ve likely heard the term integration frequently discussed in meetings, planning sessions, and strategy documents. Integration is viewed as the gold standard—bringing together charity partnerships, fundraising, marketing, programs, and social impact into a single, focused effort. This unified approach not only enhances donor collaboration but also aligns with evolving donor expectations, ultimately driving collective impact.

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Illustration showing the cycle of personal, local, national, and global impact.

Why All Impact Is Ultimately Personal

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how charities can maximize their social impact. This involves not only how they are governed, organized, and operated, but also how they effectively communicate their stories. A crucial question arises: Are we focusing on charity partnerships that are global, national, or local? Or is there another dynamic, such as donor collaboration, that we should consider in meeting donor expectations? This challenge is one that nearly every organization faces.

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Person stuck in "soon" holding an unfinished action list, path to "now" bright and clear.

Feeling Stuck. Why Progress Feels So Hard.

Do you ever feel paralyzed by the challenge of moving things forward, especially when it comes to charity partnerships? We all have moments when we know what needs to be done. A phone call we should make, a bill we need to pay, or a conversation we’ve been avoiding. These tasks can be small, straightforward, and well within our control, yet they often relate to broader goals, such as creating collective impact through effective donor collaboration. Whether it’s addressing donor expectations or initiating a new habit we intend to start 'tomorrow,' these actions can contribute to significant social impact.

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Mindset changing with progress bar in cloud shape on black background.

From Incremental to Transformational: Rethinking your Growth Mindset

I’ve been called on to assist organizations in shifting from a mindset satisfied with modest, year-over-year revenue increases to one capable of driving significantly faster, transformational growth through effective charity partnerships. It’s often the Boards of Directors who are most dissatisfied with the status quo, pushing leadership to elevate their urgency for change and embrace collective impact. This shift is crucial to meet evolving donor expectations and enhance donor collaboration, ultimately leading to greater social impact.

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Hand highlighting the word impact among related business terms.

How Impact Marketing Helps Raise More Money

As a fundraising leader, your role involves increasing and diversifying revenue streams while fostering long-term donor engagement. In this blog, I’ll delve into the distinctions between brand marketing, program and needs marketing, and impact marketing, all of which are essential for cultivating effective charity partnerships. Understanding these concepts is crucial for enhancing donor collaboration and meeting donor expectations, ultimately driving collective impact and maximizing social impact.

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Change Management Strategies

"We must change!" This is a common refrain—but the sentiment often falls short of successful implementation or an outcome that employees understand and feel positive about. While change may be envisioned at the top for good reasons, to foster true social impact, it must be implemented across the entire organization and embraced by the team. This is especially important in the context of charity partnerships, where collective impact relies on strong donor collaboration and meeting donor expectations.

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Forces Impacting Charities

Almost all charities face the challenge of a changing world and must adapt to engage new donors. I love helping organizations navigate the evolving landscape of charity partnerships, identify key changes in donor expectation, and develop strategies for effective donor collaboration. By focusing on collective impact, organizations can overcome major challenges—enabling them to raise more money and create greater social impact.

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Questions or Comments

For inquiries into my work or my availability regarding charity partnerships and collective impact initiatives, please use the form to contact me. I appreciate your interest in donor collaboration and understanding donor expectations, and I will do my best to respond to you soon about how we can achieve social impact together!

Maximizing Social Impact Through Fundraising Strategies

Maximizing Social Impact Through Fundraising Strategies