NonProfit Pro

The nonprofit International Relief and Development — once the U.S. Agency for International Development's largest contractor in Iraq and Afghanistan — responded to USAID’s suspension of its projects over allegations that IRD misused U.S. taxpayer funds and engaged in “serious misconduct.”

“This is a pretty unprecedented situation,” an IRD representative told Devex, “and an extraordinary opportunity going forward to build a 21st century [nongovernmental organization] that is really going to be setting some new standards in the development landscape.”

Legislation unveiled by California’s top charity official would add disclosure requirements for paid commercial fundraisers and extend the statute of limitations from five years to 10 years in cases of misconduct. Attorney General Kamala Harris and Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin unveiled Assembly Bill 556. Current regulations in the Golden State allow third parties to solicit funds from donors without disclosing whether a portion of the gift would be diverted to a paid company by establishing their operations as “fundraising counsel” instead of “commercial fundraisers.”

Venture philanthropy is a growing movement that includes the idea of a nonprofit selling access to its data for profit. Nonprofits make investments that may pay dividends down the road, somewhat like what big academic institutions have been doing for years. It differs from traditional sources of funding for nonprofits, which most often depend on donations from foundations, corporations and wealthy individuals.

This form of venture philanthropy garnered attention last year when the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation sold its rights to royalties from Kalydeco for a landmark $3.3 billion.

A sad situation I observe very frequently is a major gifts manager whose primary skill set is major gifts but finds him- or herself in a management position where the up-line managers, even the CEO, are critical of his or her "lack of management ability."

The 10 tips below are basic copywriting guidelines that will help you every time you write a fundraising letter, email or blog post.

Tweets from the DMA Nonprofit Federation's 2015 Washington Nonprofit Conference (#DCNP2015).

To get a handle on what’s in store for 2015, NonProfit PRO rounded up some of the nonprofit industry’s finest, who were kind enough to share their nonprofit trends for 2015. Here are two of those trends, one on donor acquisition and the other on agency/consultant relationships.

Jane Nelson-Halverson, owner of Dakota Promotions & Printing, shared a favorite promotion she did for Prevent Child Abuse North Dakota. Through creative use of found artwork and effective networking within her community, she was able to complete a great fundraising promotion for an important cause.

Among the ever-evolving buzzwords and old debates in the nonprofit sector, a new concept has entered the fray: running your nonprofit like a for-profit.

Check out people on the move in the nonprofit sector for March 2015.