Executive Issues
“How do we double our program’s revenue?” is a question we hear a lot, and not just from the peer-to-peer fundraising directors, but also from the very senior level people in an organization. Personally, regardless of who is asking, I love this question because it supports a “go big or go home” mentality, and yet,…
A nonprofit founded to combat obesity says the $1.5 million it received from Coke has no influence on its work. But emails obtained by The Associated Press show the world’s largest beverage maker was instrumental in shaping the Global Energy Balance Network, which is led by a professor at the University of Colorado School of…
A new voluntary gift-substantiation regime proposed by the IRS is being opposed by the National Council of Nonprofits (NCN), as well as a number of individual state associations of nonprofits. The system would provide an alternative to the “contemporaneous written acknowledgements” now in use by providing 501(c)(3) nonprofits with the option to report gifts more…
A proposal to create a new center at Western Carolina University using $2 million from the Charles Koch Foundation is generating concern among some faculty at Western Carolina University. The proposed Center for the Study of Free Enterprise would be funded, in part, with money from the foundation created by Charles Koch, CEO of Koch…
You decide each day what is most important to you and how you proceed down the work list based upon priorities. Think about your past, present and future as you look at work functions. With practice, you will improve your craft. Be up to the challenge, and strive for continuous quality work and results each day, for that is what is expected of you...
Relay for Life sprang from nothing in 1985 to more than $400 million per year at its height. In spite of that gargantuan success, no other nonprofit has been able to put the volunteer-driven model to work in the same way. Why is that? Why have no other organizations been able to get volunteers to handle events in the same way or fundraise at the same levels?...
Creating the greatest impact on the causes you care about can be a difficult task. Sure, you can donate to a group that claims to support a cause that is close to your heart, but there is no guarantee that the agency you are supporting is using the funds it collects responsibly. That's where GuideStar…
Households with more than one child are more likely to give, and donate a bigger share of their income, if the eldest is a son, a new study finds. But parents with only one child are more likely to give, and to donate generously, if that child is a daughter. The report from the Women's…
In the nonprofit arena, especially the fundraising profession, leaders are often called upon to be change agents.
When leaders manage charitable organizations with clear visions, realistic expectations and sound budgets, that overhead spend tends much closer to the public’s ideal of 23 cents per dollar. The key is finding a balance between the costs of overhead support for the mission and the mission itself, and the answer is often found in the realm of business...