Association of Fundraising Professionals

Adrienne Arsht, a long-time supporter of the arts and numerous other charitable causes across the United States, has been selected to receive the 2011 Award for Outstanding Philanthropist, given by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) as the organization's top philanthropy honor. Nominated by the University of Miami and the AFP Florida, Miami-Dade Chapter, Ms. Arsht has given millions of dollars to support arts programs, including $30 million to Miami's performing arts center.

Pursuant Ketchum, a full-service fundraising and communications consulting firm, recently announced that Gary Cole was named senior vice president of health care. Cole has more than 20 years of experience in professional fundraising for health-care, higher education and independent schools. He will further expand Pursuant's services into the healthcare market, including medical centers, cancer centers, community hospitals and specialty healthcare facilities, and will provide key counsel on client development campaigns.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) is honoring Chicagoan Betty Bergstrom with its Founders' Medallion for her extraordinary contributions to the organization and the fundraising profession.

Bergstrom, a nonprofit management consultant and former marketing professional, has become one of the city's and country's most dedicated advocates for helping others. She has devoted nearly 35 years to fundraising and philanthropic causes.

In the course of doing their jobs, the ethical challenge fundraisers most commonly face involves donors' intentions about how their contributions are to be used, a new survey says.

About 30 percent of respondents to a recent poll say the ethical dilemma they are most likely to face is "use of donated funds," says the Association of Fundraising Professionals, which conducted an online poll on its website during January.

About 16 percent of the 569 respondents say privacy and confidentiality are the top ethical challenge, while 15 percent cite "donor control over gifts."

The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the world's leading association for individuals and organizations that support charitable institutions, today announced that it has named Andrew Watt as its president and chief executive officer, effective March 23. Watt, a veteran of two decades in the fundraising profession, was most recently AFP's chief program officer and before that was its vice president of international development. Prior to joining AFP in 2006, Watt worked for nearly 10 years at the Institute of Fundraising in the United Kingdom, ultimately serving as deputy chief executive.

Robert Croft and Jennifer Renner shared three keys that make the difference between mediocre fundraising and successful fundraising in tough times during an AFP presentation.

AFP CEO Paulette Maehara shares her thoughts on Convio's positive 2010 Holiday Giving Survey findings.

The Association of Fundraising Professionals unveiled its new wise giving website, Change the World With a Giving-and Wise-Heart (http://www.afpnet.org/GivingHeart) designed to help donors think proactively about philanthropy and how they want to improve their communities through giving and volunteering.

The website contains a variety of information on how donors can make smart choices in their philanthropy. Donors can learn about different ways they can support charities and how to spot legitimate organizations.

Convio estimates that US giving during the 2010 holiday season to nonprofit organizations will be more than $48 billion across all giving channels --including online, direct mail and  donation at checkout – as more than 174 million adult Americans plan to give money to charity between Thanksgiving and year-end. Online giving alone is estimated to account for more than $6 billion, an increase of more than 30 percent from this same period in 2009.

Fundraisers are noticing slight increases in donations, but not enough to keep pace with higher demand for charitable services in today's economic environment.