NonProfit Pro

Pitch competitions are fun. I know because I just went to one. And it was exciting, energetic and just different (in a really good way).

Full disclosure here. The event I attended wasn't about or for nonprofits. Steve Case—co-founder of AOL and the Case Foundation and, now, Chairman and CEO of Revolution—and his merry band of entrepreneurial buddies came to town as a part of the Rise of the Rest Road Trip.

They literally stopped their bus in Charleston mid-way on a five-city tour aimed at celebrating and supporting entrepreneurship across America. 

Often, the reason a MGO fails is not because of the organization or because he or she does not have the talent or ability. It is simply that he or she is not doing the job properly. It basically is summed up in one or more of the following six reasons.

Give Local America 2015, a single-day, charitable crowdfunding event organized by Kimbia, was held May 5. Through the course of the day, hundreds of thousands of donors were activated in 180 communities nationwide, raising more than $68 million for more than 9,000 nonprofits.

Early last week, attendees from all parts of the nonprofit sector converged on Washington, D.C. for the inaugural 2015 Leadership Conference. The event, hosted by NonProfit PRO and held at the Capital Hilton, aimed to tackle leadership issues for nonprofits of all sizes and missions. By all accounts, it delivered.

WealthEngine, the provider of predictive marketing analytics and audience development services, recently announced its new partnership with SofTrek, developer of ClearView CRM fundraising software. Together, the companies offer a comprehensive and cost-effective program for fundraising, donor relations and marketing.

A faith-based nonprofit in Wisconsin announced Tuesday that it has opened its online giving platform to a fundraising campaign for the embattled owners of Sweet Cakes by Melissa.

Continue to Give founder Jesse Wellhoefer said a crowdfunding web page for Melissa and Aaron Klein went live May 5, little more than a week after GoFundMe shut down a similar account for the Oregon couple, saying it violated the company's terms of service.

"We want to help people raise money if they have gone through any trying periods where they need to raise money," Wellhoefer told The Oregonian/OregonLive."

Organizations are like cars. They need a manual. We give employees an employee manual—a guide to how the human should behave. But, we rarely create and maintain an operational manual—a guide to how the business works.

A key to change is the education plus engaging of non-fundraising staff in the fundraising process. This will take time and a great deal of patience. When you approach this scenario, work internally then externally. Understand that each person has different levels of education, experience and interest in promoting fundraising.

Reeher, a developer of software services for higher education fundraising efforts, has developed the Class Agent fundraising solution. The module is the first integrated online and mobile tool that helps universities and colleges manage class agents, and simplifies the solicitation process to save time and improve results.

Crowdfunding was widely popular in 2012 after Hurricane Sandy. But the magnitude of mini-campaigns for the Nepal disaster is unprecedented, says Amy Sample Ward, CEO of a nonprofit technology organization called NTEN.

GoFundMe alone has more than 700 individual campaigns and 45,000 donors who've collectively raised $3.5 million for Nepal. And Todi's campaign on Indiegogo Life is one of more than 100. Some of Ward's own friends on Facebook are simply asking for people to send donations to their bank accounts.

Ward has some theories about the surge of crowdfunders.