The harsh reality of fundraising is that boring is often best. Viral video, Instagram Live, Tinder (OK, maybe not Tinder)—there’s a steady stream of cool, new, exciting channels on which fundraisers can get creative. These channels promise big short-term returns, but they’re not without risk...
Sean Norris
Ask your Magic 8-Ball about the state of charitable giving in the next few years, and there’s a good chance it’ll tell you “outlook good.” As long as it’s getting its info from Marts & Lundy and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, that is...
1
Comment
The harsh reality of fundraising is that boring is often best. Viral video, Instagram Live, Tinder (OK, maybe not Tinder)—there’s a steady stream of cool, new, exciting channels on which fundraisers can get creative. These channels promise big short-term returns, but they’re not without risk...
Seeing some of the conversation in the media, to me, reflected a lot of common misconceptions and misunderstandings about the role nonprofits play in our society. And so we did a piece of analysis to kind of take advantage of all this attention and hope we could provide some education, and to show, for example, some of the differences between the two institutions...
In early February, the Internal Revenue Service and various tax agencies issued an alert warning employers of a Form W-2 email phishing scam. The scam was well known among private-sector businesses—the Democratic National Committee famously fell for a similar version—but the IRS updated the alert to include school districts, health-care providers and, yes, nonprofits...
In last year’s installment of this annual nonprofit trends feature, we wrote that something felt different about all the change happening in the sector. We chalked it up to urgency. Acceleration. Things were changing fast. That was nothing compared to what’s in store for 2017. We collected insights, observations and predictions from some of the nonprofit sector’s smartest people, and we’re delivering them to you here. We hope the 40 ideas here paint a clearer picture of the sector as it is and as it will be...
Phoenix Rescue Mission’s website was stuck in the past. Inconsistent design. Too much copy. No mobile responsiveness. The old site (pictured left) was outdated—or worse, cold. “One example is the ‘Homelessness’ page,” said Eric Himes, account director for Grizzard Communications Group, who submitted the entry. “The previous page was full of vital and relevant information, but it read a bit like a term paper.”...
Cara Schmidt, development officer for Camphill Special School, wanted to build upon the school’s #GivingTuesday success in 2014 with a bigger, better 2015 campaign. The catch? She wanted to do it entirely via social media. It’s easy to reach people on social media. It’s much harder to get them engaged...
“A challenge has been made.” Those are the big, bold words written across the front of this Barnes Foundation upgrade appeal’s oversized envelope, practically daring donors to open the package. The mailing—inviting the foundation’s closest and most dedicated supporters to advance their memberships to a higher level—was designed inside and out to make recipients feel special...
When Congress passed legislation in December 2014 to establish a congressional commission to study the feasibility of and recommend a site for the National Women’s History Museum, there was a catch. The commission and museum would both need to be financed with private money. No Washington, D.C, museum had ever been asked to underwrite its own congressional commission...
As endorsers go, the pope is about as good as it gets. So when Pope Francis visited Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Washington for a church service in 2015, the organization saw a major fundraising opportunity. The charity worked with DaVinci Direct on a follow- up mailing that would turn residual momentum from the visit into donation dollars...
Monthly giving is the lifeblood of many nonprofit organizations, but it’s no easy task to pile up sustainers. It’s even tougher when you’re championing a less-than-sexy cause—say, drug policy. But that didn’t stop Drug Policy Alliance and Sanky Communications Inc. from combining for a remarkable monthly giving campaign...
The numbers listed for this multichannel effort reflect only the final calendar mailing, and they are certainly solid—especially the 6.39 percent response rate. But it was the way the interactive campaign engaged both online and offline audiences that made it the clear winner in this category...
When Farm Sanctuary learned about horrific conditions on a rural New York farm, the animal protection organization knew it had to act fast. And it knew it would need a huge influx of funding to rescue and care for 120 mistreated animals. Mere days before the rescue, Farm Sanctuary turned to Avalon Consulting Group to get the job done...
New River Communications takes a pair of Silver awards for direct mail—house and direct mail—acquisition. One for Camillus House and Health and another for Yellowstone Park Foundation. See why they won here...
