Burlingame, CA, August 31, 2009 — Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, an advisory firm working with wealthy individuals and families, launched today. It is headed by Sean Stannard-Stockton, co-founder of a wealth advisory firm focused on philanthropists, a columnist for the Chronicle of Philanthropy and author of the industry leading blog Tactical Philanthropy.
MINNEAPOLIS, July 28, 2009 — Minneapolis-based Courage Center, a nonprofit rehabilitation and resource center for people with disabilities, welcomes Susan Oswald to its development team. In her role as senior director of Major and Planned Gifts she will develop and implement strategic initiatives through best practices in donor identification, research, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship. Oswald reports to Audrey Kintzi, vice president/Chief Development Officer in planning and implementation of capital campaigns for board-approved initiatives.
July 13, 2009, The Telegraph — A survey by Barclays Wealth of 500 wealthy individuals in the UK and US revealed that around 75pc had not reduced their contributions to charity, while more than one in four had increased their giving in the last 18 months.
Circumstances such as natural disasters, sudden public acclaim or an unexpected large bequest can thrust your organization into the spotlight, heightening public awareness and, perhaps, resulting in an extraordinary number of gifts from new donors. As terrific as that sounds, such unexpected volume can present a unique set of significant challenges and opportunities.
Remember the story of the boy in Holland who noticed a hole in the dike? Fearing a leak could flood the entire town, he shoved his finger into the hole, potentially avoiding a major disaster.
May 27, 2009, UKFundraising — A new report into philanthropy in Ireland indicates that it is not inevitable that major giving will decline during the current recession and an unprecedented fall in the paper wealth of many of Ireland’s highest net-worth individuals.
Though we're in a recession, philanthropy is alive and well. The key to weathering the downturn is having a solid fundraising program with diversified sources of giving.
Let’s pretend for a moment that you are the proud owner of five franchise fast-food restaurants around town. All five of your restaurants — let’s call them Uncle Jeff’s Greaseburgers — faithfully follow the famous Uncle Jeff’s formula. The menu, marketing and décor are exactly the same. For reasons you haven’t yet figured out, Uncle Jeff’s No. 3 generates twice the revenue of any of the others. Month in and month out, restaurant No. 3 is pouring revenue onto your bottom line. What does a smart franchisee do? One thing I’m sure you won’t do is make big changes to Uncle Jeff’s No. 3.
“[To make a ‘human case’ for your mission when approaching major donors], you must know your ‘product.’ That is, you must be familiar with the aims of your organization, who it serves, how it affects people’s lives, and you must have a real sense of your prospects’ needs, wants, hopes and ambitions. “Attempt to identify one or two possible projects that match what you believe are your prospect’s interests. Then, after gaining support for your organization’s overall mission, present these projects, document their need, and show the benefits that will result if either or both are funded. “Be sure the projects are challenging,
[Chris Carnie is founder of Factary, Europe’s only consultancy focused on strategic funders — major donors, foundations, companies and government. It operates from bases in Spain, Belgium and the U.K. At the 27th International Fundraising Congress, which took place in the Netherlands last week, Chris and colleague Martine Godefroid presented a session titled Major Donors — The Personal View. Here, he presents a synopsis of that session.] It’s hard to start a major-donor program if you don’t know what a major donor looks like. That’s why we invited a philanthropist and an advisor to philanthropic families to give us their personal views at last
