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 »
Posts Categorized: Fundraising
Upswing in Corporate Giving? What It Means
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 »
How to Deal with Funding Cuts
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 »
Should You Consider a Text-to-Give Option?
The buzz around the text-to-give option for charities has yet to die down since the Haiti earthquake. So much money was donated to the relief efforts this way that we’re still getting questions from nonprofit staff and board members who wonder if they should offer potential donors this option. A fellow blogger at “Future Fundraising… Read more »
Tuesday Fundraising Tip
Last week, we talked about the board’s role. This week, the board focus continues in our fourth tip to remain a philanthropic priority during the economic recovery: Help your board by having regular training sessions. A board member sharing his or her story with a potential donor is one of the most effective ways to raise… Read more »
Tuesday Fundraising Tip
To help you remain a philanthropic priority with donors this year, here’s our fundraising tip of the week: Develop a consistent communications program. If the only time your donors ever hear from you is when you’re asking for money, you’re not building relationships. “But we send a newsletter,” you might be thinking. It takes more than… Read more »
How Much Should You Rely on Corporate Giving?
A Jan. 14 article in Business Week discussed the decline in corporate philanthropy during the economic downturn. It also pointed out that companies are giving more strategically, often contributing to causes that will raise their visibility. This is another good reason to diversify your funding sources. As Keith noted in our last blog post, corporate… Read more »
Last-Minute Giving Boosted Year-End Appeals
A Jan. 11 USA Today article excerpted from The Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that last-minute gifts boosted some charities’ holiday fundraising. A third of the nearly 400 nonprofit groups that responded to a poll in mid-December said donations since November were higher than they had been at the same time in 2008. Of 181 charities… Read more »
2009: A Year of Challenge and Celebration
“20 years of work we love”: That was our anniversary tagline for 2009. And what a crazy year it was. Along with helping clients build capacity, train their boards, and meet campaign goals, we were called on to make an additional 32 presentations at conferences and events from Atlantic City to New Orleans. Between that… Read more »
Do You Know Your Five Rights?
This month, three of our clients each received major gifts of $100,000, $225,000, and $250,000, all because they were willing to follow the five “rights.” As we always say, it’s important to have the right people ask the right prospect at the right time for the right amount and the right reason. A year and a… Read more »
