Fundraiser Education

As my company wrapped up its recent 30th anniversary celebration, I had a chance to reflect on how things evolve over time. My father put us on a path at the outset, and though our scope and goals have changed since then, our commitment to giving back and our deep ties to the nonprofit sector…

Most people hesitate to give criticism or honest feedback. I’ve done it myself—sugarcoating my comments rather than telling someone what I really think. Unless someone asks me specifically what I really think, probing in various specific areas, I’m more inclined to give positive feedback...

This summer, I spent three days at The Collaborative, an event that brings together the best and brightest from the nonprofit world (a video is at end of this story). Across all of the panels, I attended and the conversations I had, one theme stuck out: Too often it feels like funders and nonprofits are…

I was not into cars growing up, except for one beautiful late 1950’s Dodge that had the greatest speedometer ever. That speedometer showed green, yellow or red colors as perfect indicators of the speed of the car as it went faster. I have always remembered that color indicator tool that I use for dashboards today. Besides cars, should dashboards be used in business to denote performance?...

In the dead rush to raise much-needed funds for our charitable passions, we sometimes forget that the words we choose in reaching out to our supporters need to be chosen with them in mind. There’s a unique fundraising idea...

President Trump and his re-election campaign have decided to cancel fundraisers scheduled this fall in Texas as the state recovers from Hurricane Harvey. Trump was originally scheduled to hold a fundraising event in Dallas the end of September, while Vice President Mike Pence was slotted to attend fundraisers in San Antonio and Houston the beginning…

New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet and his No. 2, Joseph Kahn, told staff members this weekend that the company will seek nonprofit partners to help offset the costs of its journalism at a time when advertising revenue continues its quicksand downward spiral. In a memo to staff that was remarkable in its forthright…

Does your organization have a volunteer engagement strategy? Engaging volunteers takes an investment of time and also yields incredible benefits. It’s the time, treasure and talents: Research shows that people who volunteer donate five times more than those who do not volunteer. People give greater gifts to where they volunteer...

Our sector is all about the promotion of social good. All of you are fighting day in and day out to raise awareness and find solutions to your organization’s mission. Whether it’s fighting child slavery, ending hunger or finding treatments for deadly diseases, you are all in this to create a better world...

The former owner of a small nonprofit on Chicago's West Side was sentenced to 21 days in jail Thursday for spending thousands of dollars in state grant money on herself instead of giving summer training jobs to teenagers. In handing down the sentence, U.S. District Judge Elaine Bucklo told Franshuan Myles that the damage done…