NonProfit Pro

Heroes: Executive of the Year
May 1, 2015

Announcing the winners of the 2015 Nonprofit Professionals of the Year Awards. Category: Executive of the Year.

Firsthand Tales of Creativity and Success: A Church Giveaway Bag
May 1, 2015

A rush order on about a week's notice for a local nonprofit might seem like an unlikely beginning for a great promotion, but for Jammie Hsu, owner of Las Vegas-based Proforma Element 7, that's exactly how it started. The weekend before Mother's Day 2012, one of Hsu's repeat clients, Victory Missionary Baptist Church, called and asked her to help put together a giveaway bag for the upcoming holiday.

A Pathway to Efficiency and Impact
May 1, 2015

The economic, political and cultural climate faced by human-serving nonprofits continues to challenge efficiency amid shrinking resources, increased demand and higher expectations of demonstrating return on investment. And while there is an urgency to achieve efficiency, there is even more urgency to achieve impact―in that "sweet spot" where operational excellence and mission alignment converge.

6 Nonprofit Leadership Learnings
May 1, 2015

Just because we are experts at fundraising doesn't mean we are great managers or leaders. Yet most of us who excel in our profession end up with management responsibilities—often with less training than we received when tackling our first direct mail appeals, websites or DRTV campaigns.

Why Did the NFL Give Up Its Tax-Exempt Status?
April 30, 2015

The National Football League is giving up its controversial tax-exempt status, according to the New York Times.

With both Commissioner Roger Goodell and Houston Texans owner Robert McNair calling it a "distraction," Goodell said in a letter to team owners that "the league office and its management council will file tax returns as taxable entities for the 2015 fiscal year." The commissioner made the switch after team owners gave the league's finance committee and management council the authority to change the tax status at meetings in March.

According to Bloomberg News, Goodell's memorandum said the NFL's tax-exempt status had...

Supreme Court Upholds Limits on Judicial Fundraising
April 30, 2015

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a Florida rule that said that candidates for judicial office could not personally solicit funds while they are candidates.

"Judges are not politicians, even when they come to the bench by way of the ballot," Chief Justice John Roberts in an opinion joined by the liberals on the bench. "A State may assure its people that judges will apply the law without fear or favor—and without having personally asked anyone for money."

Thirty-nine states use elections to select some of their judges, and 30 of those limit the ways that judicial candidates...

To Event or Not to Event? That’s the Question
April 30, 2015

Over the past couple of months a number of nonprofit executives have reached out to me regarding their fundraising events. You'd be right—and wrong. What I'm really focused upon is getting clarity in your fundraising program objectives and then choosing the vehicles that will achieve those objectives.

St. Louis Cardinals Sue Local Nonprofit, Alleging It Scalped Tickets Intended for Charity
April 30, 2015

The St. Louis Cardinals are suing a nonprofit for fraud, alleging that it scalped thousands of choice game tickets for profit that were supposed to be used to support youth baseball.

The Leagues of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which according to the suit runs the Lewis & Clark Baseball League, was allotted 3,500 tickets last year at a discounted price through the team's Ticket Consignment Contracts program, the suit says. The program provides cash grants and discounted tickets to youth-focused charities.

The tickets were supposed to be used for fundraising efforts to support youth participation in amateur baseball, according to the suit.

35 Years … and Still Learning Fundraising
April 30, 2015

The practice of fundraising is constantly changing to take advantage of new technologies, shifts in donors' preferences, lower-cost options, and so much more that affects the way we do business as fundraisers. Each time I teach a course in fundraising, I am reminded of the very thin line between what I can teach from years and years of solid experience—and what I teach based heavily on what I have read, heard and to a lesser degree, done.