Welcome to the July Nonprofit Blog Carnival. This month I've assembled the best articles and resources on welcoming your donors and securing that all important second gift.

A huge thank you to everyone who contributed. I hope you enjoy reading the articles and pick up some tips that you can put into action to boost your donor retention.

General Tips and Advice

Erik Anderson (Donor Dreams Blog) took the time to ask his colleagues and friends 'What do you do to welcome donors to your cause to surprise and delight them?' He had a great response and there is a fab collection of practical tips and advice for you to plagiarise copy!

The Veritus Group blog explain why you can't thank fast enough. Although they are talking about major donors, I think their advice applies for everyone.

Ann Green wants you to welcome your new donors with open arms.

Do you have a matching gifts programme? Double the Donation share their tips on using matching gifts to improve retention.

Mark C. Titi on why inspiring faith in your nonprofit might be the key to securing the first and second gift.

Pamela Grow talks you through your new donor welcome kit to secure that second gift.

Farra Trompeter (Big Duck) with five approaches to keep your donors engaged.

The Fundraising Authority present four steps to get a second gift from new donors.

Case Studies

 K. Michael Johnson (Fearless Fundraising) outlines how one small college rolled out a simple loyalty program that led to incremental and sustainable gains in donor retention.

How should you welcome back donors who re-start their giving? The Donor Relations Guru shares a case study from Whitworth University on how they do it better than most. 

As always SOFII provides a treasure trove of case studies on welcoming donors.

The link between culture and retention

Joanne Fritz (About.com Nonprofit Charitable Orgs) looks at the characteristics of charismatic organisations and how applying the principles can boost your retention efforts.

Simone Joyaux writes at the Bloomerang blog on how to keep your donors and creating relationships that last.

Tony Martignetti (Nonprofit Radio) talks to Dan Blakemore and Maria Semple about donor retention.

Making use of the telephone

Pamela Grow shares one simple habit that reduces donor attrition by a third. If you're not calling your donors to welcome them, then why not?

Jason Dick (A Small Change) urge you to pick up the phone and learn from what your donors tell you.

The importance of data and measurement

Smart Annual Giving highlight the importance of data to your retention efforts. Have you got the processes and systems in place to support your war on attrition?

Karen Climer (Let's Raise Some Money) implores you to measure your retention so you can do something about it.

Don't know where to start? No worries. Orange Gebera explain how to measure donor retention with this step-by-step guide.

Stay tuned for the August Carnival Round-up

I’m passing the Nonprofit Blog Carnival baton to Kivi Leroux Miller over at the Nonprofit Marketing Guide, who will be hosting in August on the topic of awareness raising campaigns. It's a  great subject, so do get involved and take part.

Nonprofit Blog Carnival Updates

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