Donor Demographics

I was reminded of recently of the truism behind Ricky Nelson’s lyric “You can’t please everyone so you gotta please yourself” when the

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 17 percent of the U.S. population is Hispanic. That’s 55.4 million people—the largest ethnic or racial minority in the country. And it’s growing. Of the 2.36 million people added to the U.S. population between 2013 and 2014, almost half (1.15 million) were of Hispanic origin. Urban areas, like New York City, have seen larger increases. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Hispanics are expected to be California’s majority by 2042. Likewise for Texas, according to the state’s Office of the State Demographer...

Creating a donor profile is one of the most illuminating things you’ll ever do—and my first step in working with most new clients. It’s only when you truly can envision the individual you’re writing to that you’ll find your overall writing—from your appeals, to your emails, to your website copy—will take on a deeper, more personal approach...

Cultural organizations desperately need to get better at reaching Millennials in order to thrive in the future. But in order to have these conversations, we need to clear up some craziness. The aim of this week’s "Fast Facts" video is to set the record straight: Talking about the need to reach Millennials is responsible and…

The Baby Boomer cohort is entering retirement, but they’re not done leaving their marks. Boomers are set to give $8 trillion to charity, in the form of money and volunteer hours, over the next two decades, according to a Merrill Lynch study. Giving by retirees will account for half of all giving by 2025, said…

U.S. foundation funding to address gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer issues reached a record $153.2 million in 2014, a report from Funders for LGBTQ Issues found. According to the affinity group's "2014 Tracking Report: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations", 38 of the largest 100 foundations awarded LGBTQ grants, and…

Picture this: You’re going on a blind date. You sit down and order a round of drinks, but before you can say “cabernet sauvignon,” your date starts listing off every detail of your life and history and asking you about them. Uhhhh, check please! That’s the world we all live in today. That includes your…

#GivingTuesday is almost here. You’ve spent countless hours planning your campaigns, crafting the perfect emails, prepping your donation pages, fashioning the perfect tweets (the day does have its own hashtag, after all). So, will it serve as a way to get those wily, social media-savvy millennials involved in philanthropy?...

Households with more than one child are more likely to give, and donate a bigger share of their income, if the eldest is a son, a new study finds. But parents with only one child are more likely to give, and to donate generously, if that child is a daughter. The report from the Women's…

A few years back, famed Princeton philosopher Peter Singer had a student who, like many new graduates, wanted to change the world for the better. The student, Matt Wage, decided that the best way for him to do that wouldn’t be to join the Peace Corps or take a low-paying job at a nonprofit. Instead,…