Last week The Curtis Group sponsored and attended the annual conference hosted by the Virginia Fundraising Institute (VFRI) in Richmond, VA. We have been involved in VFRI for nearly a decade and we always look forward to this gathering of fundraising leaders from across the Commonwealth. The conference, composed primarily of development professionals, provides an… Read more »
Posts By: cgadmin
New Findings on Donor Behavior: Highlights from the 2012 Cygnus Donor Survey
For the past four years we have looked forward to reviewing statistics on donor behavior from the Cygnus Donor Survey. This is an annual research study of active American donors that charts recent giving experiences and future philanthropic intentions. It is led by author, researcher, and president of Cygnus Applied Research, Inc., Penelope Burk. The 2012… Read more »
Giving USA Discussion at the Hudson Institute: Advice to Nonprofits and their Board Members
On Friday the Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, in partnership with Illinois University’s Center on Philanthropy, hosted a discussion titled “Giving USA 2012: Who Gave, How Much, and to Whom in 2011?” The Curtis Group’s Vice President, Wendy McGrady, along with Indiana University’s Center on Philanthropy Executive Director, Patrick M. Rooney; Nonprofit Quarterly’s… Read more »
Giving USA 2012 Snapshot
As one of 40 members of the Giving Institute, each June we anxiously await the early release of the Giving USA report–the longest running, most comprehensive report on philanthropy in America. This year marks Giving USA’s 57th consecutive annual report. In 2011, U.S. Charitable giving totaled $298.4 billion, a four percent increase, and the second… Read more »
Make the Most of Your Data
Last week we participated in a webinar on donor databases titled “Data Data Everywhere. Mining for Gold in your Donor Database.” This hour-long discussion was conducted by Fundraising Success magazine and featured three presenters: Amanda Mallinger Reinartz, Manager Product Development, Metafile; Jodi Scheib, Vice President, Fundraising, DMW Direct; and Joe Hamilton, Director of Development, Franciscan Friars…. Read more »
Raising Money Like an Entrepreneur: “Selling” Advice to Nonprofits
This week we came across an interesting article in our Twitter feed by Charles Moldow, a partner at a Venture Capital firm. Although the blog post from the website Tech Crunch is written for entrepreneurs seeking start up investments, there are clear parallels to be drawn for small nonprofits soliciting gifts from individuals. At the end… Read more »
From the Funder’s Mouth: Red Flags When Approaching Foundations
As a follow-up to last week’s post in which we offered some general advice from “real world” funders on how nonprofits should operate, this week we’d like to share with you some red flags that funders see when it comes to requests. The following are a list of no-no’s when it comes to putting together… Read more »
Funders Agree: Nonprofits Must Operate Like a Business
Today, for the fourth year in a row, Keith moderated VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads’ Annual Funders Forum. This event, which brings together funders from across Hampton Roads, always produces a variety of interesting takeaways. An underlying theme of the funders’ comments from this year’s forum was the importance of a nonprofit operating like a business. The… Read more »
Tracking the True Cost of Fundraising
Earlier this spring, The Giving Institute hosted an interesting webinar on “The Cost of Fundraising” presented by fellow Giving Institute member, Melissa Brown of Melissa Brown and Associates. Melissa began by pointing out the fact that there are a lot of gaps that exist in fundraising costs today. In fact, the majority of organizations only track… Read more »
U.S. Economy Shows Considerable Progress in Recovering From the Great Recession
I attended a luncheon today hosted by the Economics Club of Hampton Roads and Old Dominion University, which featured an interesting presentation by Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank and voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee. Lacker addressed the “considerable progress of the U.S. economy in recovering from the great… Read more »
