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 »
“Charities Expect Money Worries into 2013 Due to States’ Shortfalls.” Maybe you saw that headline in the Aug. 12 edition of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. The article reports that many states expect their budget crises to continue well into 2012 and possibly 2013. At the same time, nonprofits that have depended heavily on government funding,… Read more »
At the Giving Institute Summer Symposium last month, a representative of a major national corporation who sat on a panel of philanthropists offered good advice to nonprofits about giving and stewardship. One request he made concerned nonprofits to which his foundation has made a gift. He said he would appreciate a call from a board… Read more »
At the Giving Institute Summer Symposium earlier this month, one topic addressed by a panel of philanthropists was the use outcome measurements in cultivating donors. These philanthropists agreed that while measuring success is important, and major funders expect nonprofits to report outcomes, simply reciting a litany of data that’s important to you isn’t an effective… Read more »
After reading Wendy’s post about endowments last week, I realized that there’s a second part to this issue. Because even if now isn’t the right time for an endowment or other major campaign, that’s not to say you can’t or shouldn’t be cultivating major gifts. At last week’s Giving Institute Summer Symposium, keynote speaker Dr…. Read more »
Creating an endowment seems like a sound business practice to most nonprofit boards. But is it really the next logical step for your organization? “For many, amassing an endowment represents a ‘nirvana’ state, where fundraising (and related pain) ceases and programs are amply funded,” wrote Clara Miller, CEO of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, in a… Read more »
Controversy erupted today over ESPN’s decision to give away an hour of primetime programming to announce which NBA team LeBron James will join. The sports network will donate proceeds from advertising sponsorships of the announcement show to Boys & Girls Clubs of America, a charity long supported by James. “Many in the media world are… Read more »
