In Tuesday’s post, Keith mentioned that I attended a BoardSource webinar this week on the roles and responsibilities of board members. Here’s a quick summary of the material. A nonprofit board has three main roles. The first is to establish organizational direction. This covers setting the mission, as well as determining the board’s role in… Read more »
Development professionals should be sure to review The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s helpful summary of how tax proposals being considered by Congress will affect donors. For example, if the income-tax rate goes up for wealthy Americans, people who now pay 33 percent of their income in taxes would pay 36 percent, and those who now pay 35 percent… Read more »
Last week while making a presentation, I asked the group if the members of their boards were hesitant to make calls asking for gifts. When many attendees said yes, I assumed that a big reason was the current economy. Instead, I learned that the problem was much more basic. What it boiled down to was that… Read more »
Back to school, back to work, back to the task at hand. A new season is upon us. I’m one of those people who loves fall because it’s another opportunity for a fresh start—maybe even a second chance (or last chance) at New Year’s resolutions. September always seems to be a good time to re-group,… Read more »
In a recent blog post on The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s site, Clara Miller writes about the case of “Sister Rose,” who runs a nonprofit with a $30 million annual budget. Miller presents Sister Rose’s fundraising burnout as an example to shatter the myth that nonprofits need to diversify their funding revenue. But I submit that… Read more »
This past Saturday I was interviewed on a Maryland radio station about the state of corporate philanthropy. In reviewing the latest data beforehand, I came across two blog-worthy points. The first is the growing trend of companies seeking alternatives to cash giving to support charitable activities, such as promoting employee volunteerism or offering staffers paid… Read more »
Last week, Keith and I sat in on presentations made to the Hampton Roads Community Foundation by the four Building Excellence grantees from 2009. The grants enabled us to work with these organizations for 18 months, providing them with training and helping them put the infrastructure in place to build development capacity and begin acquiring major… Read more »
A few days ago, The Chronicle of Philanthropy published its fundraising index for the second quarter of 2010. The index says fundraising improved slightly over the first quarter, primarily because of small increases in the nation’s GDP and a slight upturn in what Americans earn. But as we all know, the economy is still challenged, which… Read more »
Last week at the AFP North Carolina Philanthropy Conference, I went to a workshop called “Giving Across Generations.” A Baby Boomer, Gen-Xer, and Millennial each described what’s important to her in terms of giving priorities and working with nonprofits at this stage of her life. A veteran donor, the Baby Boomer said she’s now interested… Read more »
Yesterday Wendy and I attended the AFP North Carolina Philanthropy Conference. Along with conducting her “Making the Successful Ask” presentation, Wendy hosted a round-table discussion during lunch on donor cultivation and stewardship. One guest at our table recounted a story that illustrates the importance of listening to donors and asking how they’d liked to be… Read more »
