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Two weeks after being suspended from government work, the leading development nonprofit for the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan has purged numerous longtime senior executives amid a widening investigation of allegations of “serious” financial misconduct. International Relief and Development, headquartered in Arlington, Va., allegedly used taxpayer money for football season tickets, personal travel and meals, and alcohol at company receptions and retreats, according to current and former government and nonprofit officials.

Knowing how to effectively interact with the younger generation is imperative to successful fundraising efforts. Here are six tips to help you fundraise with the millennial generation.

Innovation, and in particular Web technology, is fueling improvements in fundraising. New technologies are helping nonprofits reach new donors in new places, tell stories more vividly, make giving easier, maintain more frequent and relevant communication, and lower costs and apply more money directly to causes. 

We reached out to top consultants, solution providers, software developers and nonprofits to get their take on the following question: How can nonprofits leverage technology to improve fundraising?

We have to let the donor experience drive our giving sites, not our cumbersome internal processes that make things difficult. This process should be filled with joy and ease for the end user, not headaches and frustration. This is especially critical because your online donors make larger gifts than those that come in the mail. Need more proof of the power of online gifts? Check out the annual report from Blackbaud.

To get you thinking, here is a brief checklist of 5 items from the donor's perspective that make a real difference.

Donor-advised funds have made it easier for moderately wealthy people to think of themselves — organically — as charitable investors and function with charitable giving as a part of their investment mindsets. Whether you think DAFs pay out enough or not, their impact is in making charitable giving for moderately wealthy people easier, more strategic and more natural. For charities interested in reaching individual donors, getting comfortable with donors who give through donor-advised funds has to be a top priority in the new world of fundraising.

Some might doubt charities can learn much from how companies market themselves, particularly during the Super Bowl, considering they have such lucrative budgets. A Super Bowl advertiser spends around $4 million to air a 30-second spot. But even these big brands don’t spend this kind of money without a marketing strategy that demands ROI.

Two of the biggest marketing trends are crowdsourcing and gamification. They’ve been tried and tested and are ready for charities to adopt.

While it might not be possible for other nonprofits to perfectly emulate charity: water's marketing strategy — in fact, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for them to try given that each nonprofit has a distinct mission, target audience and way of operating — all would benefit from applying even just a few of the lessons we can learn from its incredible marketing. With that in mind, here are nine marketing lessons other nonprofits can take away from charity: water.

The Direct Marketing Association presented its 2013 International ECHO Awards at its annual conference, including 11 to nonprofits. The nonprofit winners include, Chill Out E.V., Food for the Poor, World Vision Canada, ASPCA, American Cancer Society, FAD — Anti-Drug Foundation, Operation Smile, Fundación Once & FSC Inserta, Amnesty International, Inspiring Denmark, and The Norwegian Cancer Society.

Three fundraising professionals on the front lines discussed a multitude of issues surrounding the fundraising sector, including corporate trends, major donor concerns and changes to the tax law at the Association of Fundraising Professionals New York City Chapter's annual meeting.

Additional million-dollar donations for recovery efforts following Superstorm Sandy from a broad spectrum of corporations were announced this week. As of midweek, the Coach Foundation had joined the ranks of seven-figure contributors to Sandy recovery efforts, pledging $2 million to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, while apparel company PVH Corp. announced a donation of $1 million, to be shared equally by the Red Cross, the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund.