Executive Issues
July 24, 2015 at 2:17 pm
Paula Kent Meehan made a fortune after launching the Redken hair-care products company in the 1960s. She spent the last years of her life giving that money to charity. One of the biggest beneficiaries was supposed to be St. John's Health Center, a storied Santa Monica, Calif. hospital founded by Roman Catholic nuns that has…
July 24, 2015 at 1:39 pm
George Roberts, who co-founded the enormously successful KKR private equity firm in 1976, is worth billions. But in a July 16 interview for the Business Times' special section this week on corporate philanthropy, Roberts talked primarily about his work helping the homeless in San Francisco (and why it wasn't easy), his views on philanthropy and why…
July 23, 2015 at 2:41 pm
In recent weeks, a number of people have approached me with questions, all variations on a theme: effective solicitation. The minister who shies from asking his parishioners to support an important project because he wants to preserve his role as a counselor, the board members who don’t always want to be the ones out asking, the executive director who just plain feels awkward approaching others for money.
July 23, 2015 at 2:24 pm
Since ancient times, we have been reminded that a true friend is loyal to us. Aristotle wrote, “A friend to all is a friend to none,” and Euripides said, “One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives.” Or, in the terms of today’s fundraisers, “One loyal donor is worth 10,000 fans, likes or followers whose engagement never goes further than that."
July 23, 2015 at 2:05 pm
The New York-based National Children's Leukemia Foundation appealed to donors across the country, promising lifesaving services, such as locating bone marrow donors, conducting cancer research and even claiming to run a program called "Make a Dream Come True" to fulfill the last wishes of dying cancer-stricken children. The New York attorney general's office said the…
July 23, 2015 at 1:19 pm
Trick-or-treating with a UNICEF box was like being a Thalidomide baby at the local pinball arcade … on “Kids Play Free” night. That thing was Halloween kryptonite, a cardboard candy-repellent that practically screamed, “Stop! Do not give this boy any candy. Stick a penny in me instead.” Worse, we had no idea what UNICEF was…
July 23, 2015 at 1:09 pm
These days, partnerships between charities and for-profit companies go beyond writing a check (although that’s still a useful part of the relationship). Nonprofits are tapping into the resources available from successful companies in all sorts of ways. It turns out, many of these companies are eager to help. Here are some different ways that nonprofits…
July 22, 2015 at 1:18 pm
Twenty-five years ago, Teach For America was just Wendy Kopp’s undergraduate project. Today, it is a pillar of the effort to radically change American education with a huge national footprint. From 384 corps members touching the lives of 20,000 public school students in 1990, it has grown to 10,471 corps members teaching 600,000 students in…
July 17, 2015 at 2:38 pm
If your job is in peer-to-peer fundraising, you are in the movement business. Movements are made of humans moving, and while there is no instruction manual for this complex beast, there are some clues about human behavior that can help you get your movement moving.
July 17, 2015 at 2:27 pm
The topic of standing out may not easily jump to mind but is important. In Indiana alone, there are more than 35,000 nonprofits seeking funds on a daily basis. That is a lot of competition to deal with in the arena of annual, major, planned and capital campaigns.
