This outstanding article mentioned in the title and linked to below outlines most of the reasons every nonprofit board member should consider before even thinking about going to the next board meeting. Honestly, if everyone read the article found here, at least a few people would resign from a nonprofit board [...]
Ever since my very first Professional Fundraising Conference in 1983, where I met Jerry Panas for the first time, until just last year, Jerry was a fixture at nearly every single one! It was so easy to spot him. Why? He was always the person nearly everyone else went to [...]
It's a little known fact that planned giving has one of the highest ROIs (return on investment) of any fundraising activity, contributing to the fact that pursuing gifts from wills and trusts is rarely a key mission funding practice among the average American nonprofit. Why is this the case? In [...]
Crowdfunding is a bold, new and sometimes surprising, if not dangerous, world when it comes to donor relations, fees, receiving funds and other aspects of the process. Few fundraisers who have embraced it knew exactly what they were getting into when utilizing a crowdfunding provider. The 26 questions listed below [...]
I published my first article on evaluating fundraising software back in 1985. In those days the first software packages for personal computers had been in place for just a year or two. There were just a few supplier options, and since the updates were shipped out on diskettes along with [...]
"Fundraising is the only profession you can join without knowing a thing." So observes Professor Adrian Sargeant, founder of the Philanthropy Centre. And it's not the new fundraiser's fault, either. Charities that hire untrained fundraisers and then expect great results are to blame. Dr. Sargeant has been passionate for 25 [...]
One of the key steps and perhaps the most important one of the Bloomerang Consultative Sales Process is our Needs Analysis. Within this crucial step we explore every objective the nonprofit has for their CRM/record keeping/communication system as well reviewing all functions needed and problems to be solved. Often we [...]
I have been proud to be a part of the Fundraising Effectiveness Project every since its inception more than a decade ago. In case you are not familiar with FEP, a little background might be in order to help you realize just how important the four comparison metrics noted below [...]
The recently released and breakthrough research report entitled The Wake Up Call – A Study of Nonprofit Leadership in the U.S. and its Impending Crisis can be found in its entirety here. Nearly 1,200 nonprofit leaders participated in this research project that should sound a warning cry for nonprofit sector. [...]
At least part of the focus of nearly every philanthropy study ranging from the Fundraising Effectiveness Project to the Giving USA Report to many others, is how flat-lined overall giving is in the United States as a percentage of GDP. This has historically hovered around 2% with very little variance over the [...]
Why sustainability? The modern consumer is savvy and shrewd, and today’s donor is no different. Whether they’re an individual, a foundation or a corporation, donors never have been more judicious about who they give their hard-earned dollars to. Unfortunately, many nonprofits lack similar information demanded of those who might consider [...]
We all know older traditions sometimes live well beyond their proper lifetimes. This seems especially true regarding print and online forms. One such form, which comes in numerous flavors, is the fundraising pledge form. I am guessing such forms first came about as part of the early existence of capital [...]