Charity Navigator

Tax time is approaching, but before you start complaining, talk to your favorite charity.

Paul Derstine, president and chief executive officer of IMA World Health for 17 years, has announced his decision to retire late in 2009. During his tenure, IMA has grown from a small non-profit distributor of donated medical products to an internationally recognized leader in the global health care arena.

Many nonprofits are feeling the impact of the financial crisis — in particular those reliant on corporate gifts. Others are bracing themselves for challenging conditions. In difficult economic times, it can be a natural reaction to stop all new investments. Yet, building strong constituent relationships and acquiring new donors to replenish losses is more important than ever.

Nonprofits must adopt a strategic approach to their fundraising investments, cutting less efficient areas and investing where gains can be realized. The traditional fundraising model has been in decline for some time. The financial crisis and competition for donor dollars has heightened the imperative to change models today, re-allocating investment from waning traditional fundraising approaches to new approaches that incorporate the online channel.

A less than stellar charity rating … getting blasted in a blog … or, maybe, a CEO that gets caught in a scandal. Any of these situations are bound to leave an organization’s phones ringing with calls from confused, frustrated or even angry donors. How does an organization relax those donors, calm their fears and address their concerns? Start with common sense. This according to Kim Daley, donor services assistant for Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres USA, a co-presenter of the session “Managing Donor Anger: Turning the Tide in Your Favor” at the 2008 New York Nonprofit Conference earlier this month. “Be a

1. Direct response basics still apply. While it’s sexy to have a social-networking or mobile-platform strategy, just remember that none of those mediums are proven fundraising vehicles yet. Even for-profit companies with large marketing budgets haven’t quite cracked MySpace, Facebook or advertising on iPhones. Stick to the basics for now — renewals, monthly giving, tell-a-friend, and simple, easy to navigate campaigns. Make sure you have a clear opt-in and privacy policy. And — of course — always remember the importance of a prompt thank-you. 2. A majority of gifts will still come over-the-transom. While it’s critical to develop a strong online acquisition and e-mail

John Melia is a no-nonsense kind of guy. He’s got what seems at first to be the naïve determination of a child building sand castles at water’s edge, not quite cognizant of the fact that the surf could swoop in at any moment and wreak havoc. It’s a refreshing assessment. But it’s also wrong. At 42, the wounded Gulf War vet and founder and executive director of the Jacksonville, Fla.-based Wounded Warrior Project is far from naïve about the way nonprofit organizations have historically worked. He just cuts the crap and focuses on how they should work. And in the case of WWP, how

For those fundraisers who appreciated that 2006 and 2007 were relatively disaster-free, and therefore were free to pursue funding for their causes without seeing donors abandon them for the victims of a previously unimaginable hurricane or tsunami, let me be the first to tell you that 2008 will be different. In 2008, a disaster is brewing that will hijack both the majority of the public’s attention and its funding. This Category 1 disaster is not a hurricane, but an election. This year will be all election, all the time — and if you don’t get out front and actually compete with it, Hillary,

Wow! Who ever thought the Gold Awards could be so exciting? The sun was setting on judgement day, and we had a tie for Package of the Year. A first! So, I polled our four judges — Steve Froehlich, director of development analytics at the ASPCA; Tim O’Leary, vice president of McPherson Associates; Paul Bobnak, director of North American Publishing Co.’s Who’s Mailing What! Archive; and FS Senior Editor Abny Santicola. After some soul searching and spirited debate, they weighed in: two for one package and the other two for the other package.

I have a friend named Tim. He’s an investment banker in Manhattan, makes a ton of money and likes to give to those who are less fortunate than himself.

Tim loves the concept of charity. Unfortunately, after 15 years of writing checks to New York’s nonprofit organizations, Tim hates charities.

The nonprofit sector faces ever-increasing questioning from the government, the media and the public regarding its integrity. Still, charitable giving continues to grow, with Americans leading the way in terms of philanthropy. Jeffrey Solomon, president of The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, says the current charitable climate offers opportunities both in terms of fundraising and accountability for nonprofits.  “Both in volunteer time and in contributions, the American public every day demonstrates its faith in the nonprofit sector’s ability to improve the world,” says Solomon, whose organization consists of a family of charitable foundations operating in Canada, Israel and the United States missioned to