Donor-centered fundraising has been a constant all my fundraising life. Over time, it’s become a nebulous sort of construct, and that might be where some of the confusion comes from. But to me, donor-centricity always has meant embracing your donors like the valuable friends and partners that they are...
Mere days after the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history left 50 dead and 53 wounded, Tennessee Rep. Andy Holt said he will no longer give away an AR-15 rifle as a door prize at his first annual "Hog Fest and Turkey Shoot" fundraiser. He'll give away two. "Giving away two AR-15s now," Holt said on Twitter. "See you all there!"...
A couple of months ago, we talked about inputs, activities, outputs and outcomes, saying that the closer you can get to measuring whether you actually help people, the better you are. Charity Navigator measures the amount spent on activities. So according to the organization, you would be better off spending $20 to help 10 people…
The House has voted to bar the IRS from requiring nonprofit groups to list their donors on tax returns, saying the agency has failed to keep the information confidential. The bill was approved Tuesday, 240-182. Republicans say the IRS has shown it can't be trusted with the information, especially when it comes to conservative groups.…
It’s all about your organization’s culture. And affecting your organization’s culture shift absolutely will not happen overnight. It takes patience, consistency and commitment. And, as the development director (or executive director), you primarily are responsible for building a culture of philanthropy. So how do you become a dedicated key player?...
Today’s world brings good and bad, but when a crisis strikes, people often speak out and become vocal about their pain, anger and desire to change. How should nonprofits capture this passion and turn it into engagement?...
Not long ago, the African country Malawi was a donor darling. Being dirt poor and ravaged by AIDS, it was needy; with just 17 million inhabitants, a dollop of aid might visibly improve it. Better still, it was more-or-less democratic, and its leader, Joyce Banda, was welcome at Westminster and the White House. In 2012,…
In November 2015, a mysterious donor identifying himself as Juan Diaz Romero, a self-proclaimed Wall Street financier, delivered a $1.5 million check to the High School for Enterprise, Business and Technology in Brooklyn, New York. The school, understandably ecstatic, sent the check to the Department of Education, which gave the go-ahead for the school to start using the funds. But there was one minor issue. The check was fake...
Selling the dream of a college education is big, profitable business. In 2014, four companies that own and run for-profit colleges collected in excess of $1 billion each. To boost their enrollments and profits, many for-profit schools pioneered modern marketing tactics, such as websites that collect information to generate marketing leads, text message follow-ups to…
Hey, fundraisers, ever wonder what your friends in the finance department think of you? That (and vice versa) is what Abila set out to examine in its “Nonprofit Finance and Fundraising Collaboration Study.” The study surveyed 1,400 nonprofit professionals to determine the relationship between fundraising and finance, and how both departments can come together to form a more collaborative nonprofit...
