Last night, as part of its philanthropy series, American Public Media’s “Marketplace” aired a story that examined how people think about giving. Host Kai Ryssdal interviewed Yale economist Dean Karlan on what motivates us to give. Dean provided an optimistic take on the recession and how it motivates donors to focus on the analytical side of supporting… Read more »
Earlier this week The Wall Street Journal ran a series of interesting and informative articles online in the Philanthropy section that we felt inclined to comment on. One in particular, entitled “Should Philanthropies Operate Like Businesses?” was especially thought-provoking. The article poses the aforementioned question and sets up a debate between executives Charles Bronfman and… Read more »
With Thanksgiving days away, we were reminded to share with our readers an interesting section recently launched by The Washington Post called “On Giving.” The new section, dubbed, “A conversation on philanthropy and social entrepreneurship,” will cover everything from corporate giving and social responsibility/entrepreneurship to charitable actions and personal finance. It will feature guest contributions from… Read more »
With the tides beginning to turn in the number of requests we are receiving for campaign planning studies, it seems as though people’s thoughts are finally turning more towards campaigns. So often nonprofit boards want to see immediate and constant results when delving into a campaign, but in reality this is simply not the way a… Read more »
While in Chicago last week for a Giving Institute board meeting we heard an interesting presentation on fundraising events by Jeff Shuck, President and CEO of Event 360, the Giving Institute’s newest member. Event 360 is a leader in the world of nonprofit event development and production, orchestrating events for some of the country’s largest… Read more »
Recently, we’ve had a lot of people ask about the best way to solicit leadership gifts from board members. As with any major gift solicitation (because that’s what you’re aiming for, right?), it’s always best to make an in-person ask. Having a board member solicit another board member in-person, is hands-down the most effective way… Read more »
This question was posed online in the Chronicle of Philanthropy earlier this month and really struck us as good food for thought. The article recounts a debate over whether board performance is the responsibility of a nonprofit’s Executive Director/CEO or the board itself? We see this debate amongst our clients on a daily basis. Many… Read more »
We recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal regarding nonprofits campaigning against a provision in President Obama’s jobs bill that would limit itemized deductions, including charitable contributions, for individuals with an annual income of $200,000 or more. The federal proposal, which would cap itemized deductions at 28% from the current 35%, provoked an… Read more »
Because promoting philanthropy is our life’s work, we felt the need to comment on a series of articles, as well as an editorial that ran in our local newspaper, The Virginian-Pilot, over the past several days on “professional fundraising companies” (i.e., telemarketing firms and professional solicitors, who differ greatly from professional fundraising counsel like The Curtis Group)…. Read more »
Last week Wendy and I attended an interesting presentation on annual giving at our Hampton Roads AFP chapter meeting. Kim Sperling, Director of Development at the Mason School of Business at William and Mary, revealed “Ten Truths and a Myth about Annual Giving,” which reiterated much of the advice we’ve been giving recently around the… Read more »
