Welcome back to #NPPTrendingNow, a weekly video series where NonProfit PRO Editor-in-Chief Nhu Te breaks down the top three coveted stories of the week. Here's what we've got going on for you this week: saying hello to a new major donor, building a responsive fundraising strategy and exploring for-profit opportunities.

Board members for any nonprofit represent a team dedicated to advancing a nonprofit through the acquisition of time, talent and treasure. Every nonprofit board member before agreeing to serve on a board must agree to their role in the fundraising process.

Donor data – like your closets and drawers – gets cluttered and outdated. Every year, 25%-30% of data goes bad, causing ineffective fundraising, poor response and lost donors. Download our e-book, “Tidy Up Using the Melissa Method.” It outlines 4 easy steps to clean your data! Reengage lost donors, improve response and increase donations. Download now!

Peer-to-peer fundraising is a way for your supporters to fundraise on behalf of your organization. It’s a spontaneous, fun and interesting way of engaging your supporters that makes them a part of the action — makes them advocates in action!

Having interacted with all types of organizations over the years as donor, employee and consultant, I can say that many nonprofits encounter similar challenges to strategic planning, fundraising and board leadership. While it’s comforting to know that you’re not alone, you’re still left with the ultimate dilemma of how to address these issues. 

A nonprofit has the same needs as any other business. If you want to attract donors and patrons, then you need to constantly build buzz and awareness about what you do. The interest you build moves people into the top of your sales funnel, so they can become donors by the time they reach the bottom.

How much is the year-end goal that are you raising? Also, what percentage of those funds are part of your whole budget? State these facts as a way to inform the donor about how their gift fits into the whole.

I’d like to put a notion out on the table: The fundraising models that drive most of today’s nonprofits were designed for a world that no longer exists. The ways in which people communicate, connect, relate and learn has changed dramatically over the last 20 years.

Over the past year, when accounting consultants and analysts introduced the revenue recognition model outlined in the Financial Accounting Standards Board’s Accounting Standards Codification 606, most nonprofit leaders’ responses were, “What’s that going to do for our bottom line?”

Welcome back to The NonProfit Voice Podcast! In this episode, Nhu Te, editor-in-chief of NonProfit PRO, sits down with David Orrick, founder and executive director of DIBS for Kids, and Madeline Duva, CEO of Fluxx, to look into grants management and how technology can play a key role.