Nonprofits are missing the boat on fundraising with businesses. Last time I checked, the average nonprofit raised just 5 percent of its revenues from businesses. Compare that number to the 72 percent nonprofits raise from individuals. Nonprofits would be eager to target businesses more if they knew just how much potential they had—and why businesses…
Companies that offer matching gifts don’t always do the best job of internally promoting their employee-giving programs, and as a result, many eligible donors don’t submit matching gift requests. Matching gifts are free money that your nonprofit should be claiming, and there are easy ways to improve your fundraising in this area. If your nonprofit wants to improve its matching gift fundraising, then these top five best practices are for you...
In November 2005, New Orleans was still reeling from Hurricane Katrina. Homes were uninhabitable, electricity was unreliable, and most people still lacked a permanent address, let alone the appliances necessary to clean the clothes on their backs. That’s when Tide showed up with a fleet of Whirlpool washers and dryers, offering free laundry service for…
The scandal of Volkswagen, the German automaker, and its intentional marketing of diesel cars with fraudulent pollution measuring and monitoring software meant to circumvent polluting exhaust standards, has trumped the General Motors ignition defect scandal as potentially the worst example of corporate dishonesty in recent years. Volkswagen is a mammoth German company, employing 270,000 people…
The Native American tribe leading the fight to change the Washington Redskins name is locked in a dispute—one that includes accusations of lying, bribery and exploitation—with the foundation that team owner Dan Snyder created to help Indians in need. On one side is the Oneida Indian Nation, backed by millions of dollars in casino money,…
Target Corp. is ending a trademark giving program through which it has sent hundreds of millions of dollars to schools over nearly two decades. The Minneapolis-based retailer began notifying schools on Monday that it will discontinue its “Take Charge of Education” program, through which the company donates 1 percent of Redcard holders’ purchase total to…
Do you have a strategic plan, operational plan, target markets or bull’s-eye target in mind to determine and strengthen community partnerships? A simple exercise consisting of three steps may help any nonprofit executive determine how to strengthen community partnerships going forward...
A partnership between Uber and the Red Cross in New Zealand was announced this week. A similar partnership between Uber and the American Red Cross earlier in the month went almost unnoticed. How come? The clue may be in the recent abandoning of a plan for Uber to partner with UN Women, as reported in…
Walmart's eighth annual Global Responsibility report came out not long ago, and it suggests that the company is feeling pretty proud of itself. It boosted its minimum wage for associates to $9 an hour in April of this year and will boost it again to $10 in February 2016. That will cost them $1 billion,…
I’ve spent 14 years as a fundraiser, pitch coach and trainer to fundraisers. And after conducting interviews with some of the most successful pitchers on the planet, I have noticed fascinating patterns in how the regular winners approach pitch design. Their habits are different from those who work hard but usually fail to get through. Here are seven of the mistakes that are most likely to sabotage all the hard work — and how to solve them.
