While in Chicago, I attended a presentation on the role of community foundations in today’s giving environment. Jason Baxendale, director of gift planning for The Chicago Community Trust, and Terry Shavone, The Columbus Foundation’s vice president for donor services and development (both of which are ranked in the top 10 largest community foundations in the… Read more »
Posts By: cgadmin
Embracing a Culture of Philanthropy
Recently, I conducted a training session at a nonprofit’s board planning retreat. This training was so much fun for me because the board was ready to transition from special events and membership fundraising to a major gift, fundraising-focused program. We talked a lot about culture change as their organization has been using their current model for… Read more »
Giving as an Investment
At the Volunteer Hampton Roads conference last Friday, we heard a speaker talking about giving as an investment. If you’ve heard us speak about major gift fundraising, you’ve heard us say that donors, now more than ever, view their major gifts as investments. That means that we, as development professionals and board members, need to be prepared… Read more »
Survey Shows Donations Rebounding
In a year-end fundraising survey, The Chronicle of Philanthropy found that 62 percent of nonprofits reported raising more last November and December than in the same period for 2009. An article on the results, published this week, also said that nearly two-thirds of the 245 nonprofits surveyed had an overall gain in donations in 2010,… Read more »
Major Gifts: Guidance from the Experts
Last week Wendy and I taught a two-day Development and Fundraising course at Tidewater Community College’s Academy for Nonprofit Excellence. On the second day, Kay Stine of Norfolk Collegiate School, Billy Foster of TowneBank, and Christine Morris of Hampton Roads Community Foundation served on a panel that addressed issues surrounding major gift asks. All of… Read more »
Giving Online Jumped in 2010
An article last week in The Chronicle of Philanthropy and a recent news report on PBS both indicate that a growing number of Americans are supporting charities through online giving and social media. In the Chroncle article, the fundraising software company Convio said that online donations to its 1, 300 clients topped $1.3 billion in… Read more »
Wealthy Donors Are Giving Big
The headline says it all: “Year-End Giving Season Is Bountiful for Charities That Rely on the Wealthy.” Not only is this encouraging news for nonprofits, it’s validating for us. Over our 22-year history, we’ve stressed the incomparable value of high-net-worth donors, and we’ve hit that message even harder during the economic downturn because we know they’re… Read more »
A Name Heard Around the Nation
Here’s another story in our occasional series on how a handful of volunteers can have a huge impact on their community. In 1978, Rev. Edward Page, a young minister at Suffolk Presbyterian Church, was diagnosed with an incurable brain tumor. That same year, Marcus Hogge, a child in Rev. Page’s congregation, was dying from a… Read more »
Engaging the Millennial Generation
In our latest enewsletter sent out Tuesday, Wendy wrote about differences in giving by generation. Great minds think alike—this week Giving USA issued a Spotlight report on “Charitable Giving and the Millennial Generation.” It’s packed full of data on the philanthropic differences among generations, along with recommendations on how to engage and cultivate millennials. Comprising… Read more »
Cultivating High-Net-Worth Donors
After a recent meeting with a client and a high-net-worth donor, I was reflecting on the recent data from the 2010 Study of High Net Worth Philanthropy. The study results showed that these donors typically make their giving decisions with their spouse and like to involve their children and families wherever possible. These donors are… Read more »
