Janet Spavlik

In our February issue, Fundraising Success named the winners of our 2010 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards. In this recurring "Meet Our Award Winners" series in the Advisor, you will have an opportunity to learn more about these distinguished nonprofit professionals and their unique perspectives on fundraising. Here, meet David Ludwigson, who was named one of this year's Rising Stars.

In our February issue, Fundraising Success named the winners of our 2010 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards. In this recurring "Meet Our Award Winners" series in the Advisor, you will have an opportunity to learn more about these distinguished nonprofit professionals and their unique perspectives on fundraising. Here, meet Jessica Harrington, who was named one of this year's Fundraising Stars.

In our February issue, Fundraising Success named the winners of our 2010 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards. In this recurring "Meet Our Award Winners" series in the Advisor, you will have an opportunity to learn more about these distinguished nonprofit professionals and their unique perspectives on fundraising. Here, meet Miyoko Brunner, who was named one of this year's Rising Stars.

In our February issue, Fundraising Success named the winners of our 2010 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards. In this recurring "Meet Our Award Winners" series in the Advisor, you will have an opportunity to learn more about these distinguished nonprofit professionals and their unique perspectives on fundraising. Here, meet Matthew Bregman, who was named one of this year's Fundraising Stars.

In our February issue, Fundraising Success named the winners of our 2010 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards. In this recurring "Meet Our Award Winners" series in the Advisor, you will have an opportunity to learn more about these distinguished nonprofit professionals and their unique perspectives on fundraising. Here, meet Missy Ryan, who was named one of this year's Fundraising Stars.

In the February issue, Fundraising Success named the winners of our 2010 Fundraising Professionals of the Year Awards. In this recurring "Meet Our Award Winners" series in the Advisor, you will have an opportunity to learn more about these distinguished nonprofit professionals and their unique perspectives on fundraising. Here, meet Gene Petrucci, who was named one of this year's Fundraising Stars:

Looking for ways to streamline your nonprofit organization's processes? Many times, implementing software to automate certain processes can increase efficiency and even save money in the long-term. However, it can be a daunting endeavor that raises many questions. For instance, what types of software should your nonprofit be using? What products are available, and which would work best for your particular organization?

Chances are, your donors and prospects are spending a lot of their time online. According to a Nielsen report released last month, global consumers spent more than five and half hours on social-networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter alone in December 2009 —  an 82 percent increase from the same time last year when users spent just more than three hours on social-networking sites..

In the midst of the massive fundraising efforts for Haiti relief, and with donations garnered through text messaging grabbing national and international headlines, it was no surprise that mobile fundraising provoked much discussion and debate throughout the conference.

In November, I transitioned into the position of managing editor of FundRaising Success  after serving as managing editor of sister publications Book Business and Publishing Executive. As with any change, professional or otherwise, it has stirred a mix of emotions — the excitement of tackling the new, the sadness of leaving behind the old, the difficulty of approaching various challenges along the way. One of the biggest of those has been learning this new (to me) world of nonprofit fundraising, especially after being immersed in other industries for many years.

Most fundraising professionals devise campaigns with a standard, “blanket” approach — what's the best package to mail out to the majority of my donors? However, by complementing this approach with more targeted communications designed for specific donor groups, fundraisers can optimize their donor contacts and, ultimately, generate more revenue.

Nonprofit organizations around the world are raising millions of dollars via mobile fundraising for disaster relief in Haiti. And their experiences might well turn out to be both proving and testing grounds for this still-new medium.

In the session “Mobile, Online, Offline” at the DMA Nonprofit Federation 2010 Washington Nonprofit Conference last week, the “mobile” part of the presentation — moderated by Mark Smith, fundraising director, Greenpeace — took center stage as attendees engaged with speakers in a lively Q&A portion.

The book “Brandraising: How Nonprofits Raise Visibility and Money Through Smart Communications,” by Sarah Durham, offers nonprofit organizations strategies to communicate more effectively using limited resources — which has become an even greater challenge for many nonprofits, large and small, in today's struggling economy.