Tapping Into the Power of Multicultural Philanthropy Nov. 29, 2005 By Kelley Chunn The estimated economic clout of Asians, Latinos, African-Americans and Native Americans exceeds $1.3 trillion, and they aren't afraid to flex their economic muscle -- especially in terms of philanthropy. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, for example, The Twenty-First Century Foundation, an African-American philanthropic organization, reportedly raised $400,000 for black survivors. The Associated Press reported that when two storms slammed Central America this fall, it brought into sharp focus a trend among U.S.-based development organizations and Hispanic community groups: When disaster strikes, many groups send money directly to community organizations in the affected
Association of Fundraising Professionals
E-philanthropy is the new kid on the block with the bright new sneakers. But while numbers from the 2005 Kintera/Luth Nonprofit Trend Report show online giving going full-steam ahead, there are still key points to keep in mind when it comes to maximizing users’ Web experience. This was the topic addressed by Michael Schreiber, executive vice president for enterprise service at the United Way of America in his session at Fund Raising Day New York in June.
“What We Have Here Is a Failure to Communicate” FS Advisor: July 19, 2005 By Margaret Battistelli, editor, FundRaising Success With apologies to Paul Newman’s character in “Cool Hand Luke,” that famous line could underscore the major deficiency that plagues many major-gifts appeals. In their AFP Fund Raising Day New York session, “Social Styles: Increasing Effective Personal Communications for Fundraising,” presenters Andrea Kihlstedt and Michael Page Miller stressed the importance of understanding the personality type of a potential major-gift donor before even attempting an ask. To simplify the task, consultants Kihlstedt and Miller educated attendees on the various social styles that fundraisers might encounter
Holding a holiday concert? Planning a New Year’s bash? Squeezing in a last-minute, year-end house party as a fundraiser for your favorite cause? Online event planning might save you some of the hassle that normally comes with putting together an event for your organization or cause. Whether you’re in the planning, preparation, implementation or post-event stage of the game, there is no getting away from the necessity of using e-tools for your event. PLANNING You can’t do it all ... at least not alone. Use e-mail and online meeting spaces to put the plans for your event together. Sites such as http://www.topica.com,
The 2004 Association of Fundraising Professionals’ annual survey cited two important trends. First: Large organizations once again outperformed smaller organizations in fundraising — no surprise there. Second: Major gifts and planned gifts are on the rise.
More than 80 percent of AFP’s 3,000 survey respondents said they expect revenue from major gifts and planned giving to remain strong or increase in 2005, while casting direct mail as essentially flat.
Middle-school students singing carols at a retirement home. Teenagers delivering meals to shut-ins or walking to raise money to fight cancer. Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Cub Scouts and Brownies picking up trash at a city park.
Opportunities abound for young people to learn the value of giving — whether it’s time, talent or money. And nonprofit organizations are finding that it’s never too early to start grooming children, teens and young adults to become supporters in the not-so-distant future.
Paul Pelletier was adamant. There are changes looming, and many are not good. The affable president of Direct Campaign Solutions bantered with the audience at his “Fundraising Legislation and Its Impact” session at AFP’s recent conference in Baltimore. Among the topics: Senate Finance Committee recommendations that would severely curtail gifts in kind; postal reforms that would make it financially burdensome to personalize your DM; and the push for more government-led accountability from nonprofits.
You Get What You Pay For April 26, 2005 While nonprofit execs have long grappled with high turnover, searching for ways -- sometimes fruitlessly -- to retain the best and brightest that pass through their development departments, a new Association of Fundraising Professionals' survey reveals that money might no longer be a stumbling block. According to the AFP, which recently surveyed members in the United States and Canada about their compensation and benefits packages, the median salary of U.S. fundraisers rose last year by more than 15 percent, to $72,050, or roughly $100,000 more than in 2003. Chief development officers fetched a median salary
Popularly defined as those individuals born between the mid-1960s and late 1970s, Generation X is the most maligned and enigmatic generational cohort of the 20th century. Often characterized as aloof, cynical and fiercely independent, Gen-Xers have been largely overlooked by charitable organizations as an active philanthropic-giving group.
Even now, as the generation enters its prime employment and household-formation years, targeted appeals tend to place more emphasis on Generation Y, or the “echo boomers” — those technologically savvy individuals born after 1980 — and the baby boomers themselves, for their obvious size and spending power.
Simply put, people who are comfortable shopping and paying bills via the Internet are more likely to donate money online to your nonprofit organization, says Michael Johnston, president of Toronto-based nonprofit consultancy Hewitt and Johnston and author of “The Fund Raiser’s Guide to the Internet” and “The Nonprofit Guide to the Internet.”
