Note from Beth Kanter:   I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Data Driven Nonprofits by Steve Maclaughlin (launching today, Sept. 6th) and so data and nonprofits has been on my brain.  So when colleague, Cheryl Contee reached out an idea for this post, I could not resist!  Speaking of books, you can pre-order my next book, The Happy Healthy Nonprofit: Strategies for Impact without Burnout due out in October.

Guest Post by Cheryl Contee

It's over. The campaign is finished. The thank-you's have been said and the money counted. However, before closing the book on a campaign for good, you should take one last look at it. The days immediately following a campaign are the time to analyze what went wrong and what went right, which fixes worked and which didn't.

No one would argue the fact that every fundraising campaign needs a goal and that everyone connected with the campaign, including prospective donors, needs to be aware of that goal. Then why do people so often fight the setting of a goal for each prospective donor and sharing that goal with the prospect? Trustees often blanch at the idea, and it is the rare solicitor who the first time he or she is told that there will be a suggested giving amount for each of his prospects does not respond with, "I can’t tell people what to give!"