The Heritage Foundation

In March 2007, Carsten Walter, then director of membership programs at The Heritage Foundation, explained how for-profit common sense can help an organization "sell" its cause, in his article, "The Business of Fundraising."

FundRaising Success published its first issue in November 2003, which makes this our 10-year anniversary year. To celebrate, we’ll be taking a look back at past issues throughout the year. To start, here are some words of wisdom culled from stories that appeared in our very first issue.

We can and should tell donors all these things, often, in as many ways as we can. But we can also show them with involvement devices that say to them, "Your thoughts and ideas, your concerns, and your vision are things of interest to me."

Strong holiday-season contributions have made many charities optimistic that their fund-raising returns will improve sharply in 2011.

Sixty-two percent of 245 nonprofit organizations surveyed by The Chronicle reported that they raised more in November and December 2010 than at the same time in 2009. But even as some groups are rebounding quickly from the recession, others continue to struggle. Twenty-four percent of organizations reported year-end gains of more than 20 percent, while 28 percent reported drops in giving. One in 10 said giving was flat during the holidays.

The day's take was a little smaller than average, just seven pieces. Two stood out from the rest for the sole reason they were not white — one a No. 9, closed-face, ivory outer with a gold foil-embossed corner card, and the other a 6-inch-by-9.5-inch special window with four-color printing on glossy stock. Of the five white packages, the mix included a 6-inch-by-9-inch closed face, a 6-inch-by-9.5-inch right window and three double-window No. 10s — one of which turned out to be quite providential.

The U.S. has 1.5 million nonprofits that account for more than $1 trillion of the country’s economy. Over the last 15 years, nonprofits actually have grown faster than the rest of the economy and currently are the third largest industry in the U.S., behind retail and wholesale trade but ahead of banking and telecommunications.   So with the playing field getting larger and larger, something begs to be asked. What makes a great nonprofit? Which are the crème de la crème, and how did they attain such a level of success? This is the question that Leslie Crutchfield and Heather McLeod Grant meticulously answer

The numbers are self evident. More Americans these days are supporting nonprofit causes both financially and with their time than ever before. We are a multi-billion dollar industry that forms a vital component of our nation’s strength. And survey after survey shows that we are the most generous nation on Earth.

A Wealth of Opportunity March 28, 2006 By Abny Santicola, editor, FundRaising Success Advisor Ah, wealthy donors. There isn't an organization in existence that wouldn't want a house file full of them. But did you ever consider that maybe yours already is? Carsten Walter, director of membership programs at Washington, D.C.-based conservative research and educational think tank The Heritage Foundation, says his organization has cultivated most of its high-dollar donors up through its regular direct-marketing program. "This is the largest source of future major donors," Walter says. "Sixty percent of our $10,000+ donors started out as regular direct-mail donors." The organization,

It’s a stunningly perfect, late-summer day in the nation’s capital, and Carsten Walter is doing his best Homer Simpson impression — though maybe not on purpose. The affable, animated Walter slaps the heel of his hand against his forehead, rolls his eyes and explains how certain “duh moments” play into his work as director of membership programs at D.C.’s venerable Heritage Foundation.

With an uncertain economy tightening purse strings, war and terrorism drawing people into themselves, and high-profile scandals undermining the public trust, these are challenging times for nonprofits. But they’re exciting times too, because from challenge comes change ... and growth.

The development challenges that plague nonprofits these days are a powerful impetus for change in the fundraising world. And there’s an increasing need for a catalyst for that change, a clearinghouse of ideas, a place where the professionals go to share and learn.