Incentives

Keeping great talent is a huge challenge for nonprofit and for-profit organizations alike. As an example, Turnkey engaged psychologist Otis Fulton to help us dissect the psychology of peer-to-peer fundraising. Turnkey could have really used Otis full time, but there wasn’t budget for that. I was worried about retaining the talent...

The eyes that matter most on your event T-shirt are the eyes of the person wearing it. The value of the T-shirt is that the person wearing it sees him or herself in it frequently over the next year. When we reinforce the intrinsic label of a person by helping him or her overtly self-identify as someone who performs certain behaviors–in this case being a fundraiser for our nonprofit–we increase the likelihood we will get he or she back next year to do that same behavior...

Ever hear Steve Smith Sr. spit fire at an opponent (or, sadly, a member of the media) and wish you could do the same to someone in your life? Well, the next best thing would be to have Smith do it for you. As part of a fundraiser for his Steve Smith Family Foundation, which…

National nonprofit organization Grow for Vets is raising money and support for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other medical conditions, as well as handing out free marijuana. The organization hosted a free cannabis giveaway and rally at Refuge PDX in Portland on Saturday. Both veterans and non-veterans received gift bags containing information about Grow…

I struggle at motivating my 17-year-old boy to live like a human. My efforts—threats, cajoling, reasoning and money—to keep rodents and insects from invading my home through the trash dump that is his room are not effective. Why? It may have something to do with two competing forms of incentives...

As Jeb Bush focuses on foreign policy this week during a visit to Europe, his team at home is finalizing a fundraising blitz that will begin as soon as he steps into the 2016 presidential race. Bush will publicly announce his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Monday, while privately embarking on what his…

I recently remembered a talk I had with a client, Randi Corey of the Hydrocephalus Association, about her experience with surveys.

What if your event was born and raised on registration fees? How do you transition from them? I've seen and heard of some horrific stories of efforts to change to a no-reg fee environment. At least one nonprofit accomplished the switch successfully.

As both a fundraiser and awareness piece for the SAAGNY Foundation, Rhonda Blum created and sold custom-decorated tumblers from Gordon Sinclair for $10 apiece. The mugs carried 12 co-sponsor decorations on them, each sold for between $75 and $100, and were sold at various SAAGNY and SAAGNY Foundation events.

Trust is a fine and valuable part of any nonprofit relationship, but when it comes to product safety, the old adage of "trust, but verify" has never been more applicable. A misstep on safety or compliance could potentially cost your organization thousands—if not much, much more—and untold brand damage, all over something you could have caught in the verification process had you known what to look or ask for.