This week we’re taking a break from our weekly fundraising tip to look at the reason we started posting these tips to begin with: the economic recovery. Several major economists believe the recession has ended, and the Federal Reserve chair recently said it was over in last quarter of 2009. But earlier this week, the… Read more »
Last Friday, I was one of five Giving Institute members who served on a panel organized by editors of The Chronicle of Philanthropy and moderated by Holly Hall, a Chronicle features editor. The session was part of the Giving Institute’s conference, held in conjunction with the AFP International Conference that kicked off Sunday. Our panel… Read more »
Create a challenge gift: That’s number eight in our series of tips on how to remain a philanthropic priority in the economic recovery. Challenge gifts can come from individual donors, foundations, businesses, or even your collective board. It doesn’t have to be huge, although those can work well too. When the Virginia Living Museum was offered $6… Read more »
An article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy last week reported that “cuts to corporate giving budgets are slowing this year.” A study by the Conference Board said 20 percent of the businesses surveyed plan to reduce their charitable giving in 2010, compared with 53 percent in 2009. While this is good news, it doesn’t mean… Read more »
It’s that time of the week. Here’s our seventh tip to help you remain a philanthropic priority during the economic recovery: Develop new fundraising leadership by recruiting and engaging people who have a passion for your organization. Too often the board recruiting process goes like this: “I met someone at a civic club meeting who… Read more »
After tweeting about yesterday’s blog post, we got a direct message on Twitter from the National Council of Nonprofits sharing its special report published March 16, State Budget Crises: Ripping the Safety Net Held by Nonprofits. The report contains helpful information about lobbying community leaders regarding nonprofit funding. But in sharing this report here, Keith… Read more »
In our recent travels to make presentations, conduct trainings, and meet with clients, we’ve been hearing a lot of talk about cutbacks in their government funding. Even human services organizations like free clinics, whose services are more in demand than ever, are losing state and municipal funding. The reality is, this may get worse before… Read more »
Here’s the sixth fundraising tip in our series of 10 Tips for 2010: Develop a detailed cultivation plan for each of your top donors. No two donors are alike. They have different funding interests, different concerns, different schedules. But when they’re your top donors, someone connected with your organization has a relationship with them. And that’s… Read more »
Recently several people have asked me about prospect research—how to find and manage new potential donors. After asking some questions, it became clear that these organizations were thinking more about new prospects than they were about renewing or increasing past donors. When I mentioned this to Keith, he said that in the last three trainings… Read more »
In the last couple of tips, we’ve focused on how your board can help raise money during the economic recovery. This week’s tip, our fifth in the series, is all about donors. To remain a philanthropic priority during the recovery, you have to keep your current donors close to you. Some nonprofits mistakenly believe that challenging… Read more »
