Prospects

The subject of major gift prospecting always causes a bit of controversy anytime Jeff and I talk about it. I suppose that the reason so many pro-prospecting people get mad at us for taking a no-prospect stand is that they truly believe the illusion that “there is just someone out there that we don’t yet…

Are you wondering how your fundraising program is really doing? How you compare to your peers? Where you could be raising even more money? Each year, the Individual Donor Benchmark Report examines individual donor fundraising data from small and mighty organizations—those with budgets less than $2 million. There’s no other source of this kind of…

Despite the oil downturn’s effect on Houston, the Bayou City is still the No. 1 most charitable place in America. Charity Navigator’s annual Metro Market Study ranked Houston’s charities No. 1 for overall financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency. It also found that Houston's charities received proportionately the most donations of any city…

When it comes to marketing decisions, it’s not just about the immediate change. The long-term impact must be assessed as well…

What does inflation in global social-media usage mean for your nonprofit? The "2016 Social Media Inflation Index" infographic from TrackMaven, a digital-marketing software company that analyzes content across 15 online channels for companies, might have the answers...

Colorado’s attorney general and secretary of state are asking residents to do more to check out charities before they decide to give. "I encourage the many generous people in our state who make charitable contributions to take proper precautions before donating their hard-earned money," Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said in a news release. "Unfortunately,…

For the past three years,  I have had the honor of serving as the facilitator for the Knight Foundation Peer Learning Exchange for the Giving Day Initiative. Today, the foundation has released a new report: “Beyond the Dollars: The Long-Term Value of Giving Days for Community Foundations,” written by Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies. The…

Judging by the volume of charitable contributions processed over the first six months of 2016, it appears to be another up-and-down year for America’s nonprofit organizations. A more in-depth analysis into the data revealed some consistent and concerning trends that impacted the first half of 2016 and that likely may carry over into the second half of the year...

Figuring out which foundations engage in the most impact investing is not so easy. While some reports, like a 2015 study by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, have gauged how widespread this practice has become in foundations, actual dollar amounts are still hard to come by—unlike annual grantmaking tallies, which are readily available. That's too…

Charitable giving in the U.S. during the first half of 2016 was essentially flat at $241.3 billion, up only 0.9 percent over the same period last year, a report from the Atlas of Giving finds. The Dallas-based forecasting group's July 2016 report found that donors, faced with an uncertain economic situation and an upcoming presidential…