Merchandising

In the June 2009 cover story, "Safety Line," former FS Associate Editor Abny Santicola explained how for-profit ventures help nonprofits shore up the funding they need to maintain and expand their programs — even in stormy economic times.

Some U.S. charities need to attract private investors and turn a profit instead of relying on donations to tackle the country's woes, experts say.

Charities should operate more like businesses by becoming social enterprises to shore up revenue after the worst U.S. recession in decades sparked a fall in giving, they told a panel at New York University's Heyman Center for Philanthropy.

DMA2010 sees the launch of AccuBaseE from AccuData Integrated Marketing.

These are still grim times for many nonprofit organizations.

And then there's Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, a $22 million "business that happens to be a nonprofit," President Lorna Utley, a former General Motors Co. executive, told me this week. "About half of our revenue is earned. Very little of ours is philanthropic. A lot of our sources (for revenue) are changing."

Because they have to.

A recent report by the Johns Hopkins Listening Post Project, Nonprofits, Innovation, and Performance Measurement: Separating Fact From Fiction, reveals that there are widespread efforts in U.S. nonprofits to innovate. Driving that point home is the recent phenomenon of nonprofit restaurants.

WASHINGTON, November 18, 2009 — Many people are cutting back on gift-buying, parties and travel this holiday season, but support for charitable giving remains strong as people believe it is more important this year to give to charities because of the economy, according to a new national survey for the American Red Cross.

Creating a campaign centered around the sale of holiday ornaments is a win-win for your organization and your constituents that can help you generate additional revenue and exposure for your cause. The United States Capitol Historical Society, an organization dedicated to promoting the history of our nation’s Capitol and Congress, has designed an annual Capitol-themed holiday tree ornament — which it sells in its gift shop and online — since the 1980s. The society offers discounts on its ornaments to corporate and association sustaining members of 15 percent to 25 percent, depending on their level of membership, says Diana E. Wailes, vice president

 Face it … life is not a Bob Hope movie. And just as a family of adorable tots can’t really make it in show business anymore by punching the air and yelling, “Let’s put on a show,” gone too are the days of, “Let’s have a catalog!” in the not-for-profit world. Having a merchandising program is one way for many nonprofits to raise unrestricted funds and to reach donors and prospects at a time when their mailboxes — both physical and virtual — are crammed with

After getting laid off by Enron during its financial-document falsification scandal and eventual collapse, Brian Cruver authored a book, Anatomy of Greed, which gives an insider’s view of the debacle. The book became a CBS television movie, The Crooked E. With the money earned from the book and movie deals, Cruver wanted to start a company that would benefit society.