“Are higher retention rates associated with higher totals in charitable giving?” This is the question that the Nonprofit Research Collaborative sought to answer in their most recent survey focused on donor retention rates. More than 770 organizations across every subsector participated in the study. Interestingly, the results are almost exactly the same as the NCR’s… Read more »
Posts Categorized: Donors
Corporate Giving: Strategies for Securing Support
Last week Lauren and I attended the AFP-Hampton Roads luncheon presentation titled, “Building Strategic Relationships with Corporations and Foundations.” Amy Nisenson, Executive Director of the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation, and Victor Branch, SVP/Market Manager for Richmond & Hampton Roads, Global Corporate Responsibility Office for Bank of America, were the two presenters. They began their discussion… Read more »
Make the Most of Your Data
Last week we participated in a webinar on donor databases titled “Data Data Everywhere. Mining for Gold in your Donor Database.” This hour-long discussion was conducted by Fundraising Success magazine and featured three presenters: Amanda Mallinger Reinartz, Manager Product Development, Metafile; Jodi Scheib, Vice President, Fundraising, DMW Direct; and Joe Hamilton, Director of Development, Franciscan Friars…. Read more »
From the Funder’s Mouth: Red Flags When Approaching Foundations
As a follow-up to last week’s post in which we offered some general advice from “real world” funders on how nonprofits should operate, this week we’d like to share with you some red flags that funders see when it comes to requests. The following are a list of no-no’s when it comes to putting together… Read more »
Funders Agree: Nonprofits Must Operate Like a Business
Today, for the fourth year in a row, Keith moderated VOLUNTEER Hampton Roads’ Annual Funders Forum. This event, which brings together funders from across Hampton Roads, always produces a variety of interesting takeaways. An underlying theme of the funders’ comments from this year’s forum was the importance of a nonprofit operating like a business. The… Read more »
From the Donor’s Perspective
As a part of our daily work we spend a lot of time listening to donors share their candid impressions of our client’s organizations as a whole; everything from the effectiveness of the staff and board to the way they are cultivated. Through the planning study, development assessment and capacity building interview process we learn… Read more »
Tips on Converting Event Donors to Organizational Donors
We recently tuned in to an informative webinar on “Converting Event Donors to Organizational Donors” presented by fellow Giving Institute member, Event 360. The webinar, part of Giving Institute’s monthly series, opened by defining the characteristics of these two distinctly different types of donors—the difference being the individual’s degree of knowledge, connection, motivation and investment…. Read more »
The Importance of Engaging (and Retaining) Volunteers
Last week, the Richmond Times-Dispatch interviewed Keith for an article addressing the surprisingly low volunteer rate in the Richmond,Virginia area. The article juxtaposes this reality against the fact that 2010 actually showed the highest growth rate in U.S. volunteerism since 2005, climbing to 63 million. So why is it that only 20.9% of Richmond-area residents volunteered… Read more »
Giving USA Spotlight: Relationship Cultivation Using Social Media
As most nonprofits are wrapping up the final week of their annual giving campaign and gearing up for the New Year, we wanted to share some valuable information from the latest edition of the 2011 Giving USA Spotlight series. The third and final issue of the year, entitled, “Relationship Cultivation Using Social Media” offers good… Read more »
What Motivates Us To Give?
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 »
