NonProfit Pro

Don't ever forget to market yourself. You are your most important product and key to your ultimate institutional success. No less than 100 percent daily effort will do. People are watching you—and you set your own performance bar.

NAPCO Media's offices—home of your friends at NonProfit PRO—will be closed Monday in observance of Memorial Day. Our NonProfit PRO Today e-newsletter will resume daily operations on Tuesday, May 26.

We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!

Robert M. Gates, the president of the Boy Scouts of America and former secretary of defense, called on Thursday to end the Scouts' ban on gay adult leaders, warning the group's executives that "we must deal with the world as it is, not as we might wish it to be."

Speaking at the Boy Scouts' annual national meeting in Atlanta, Mr. Gates said cascading events—including potential employment discrimination lawsuits and the impending Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage, as well as mounting internal dissent over the exclusionary policy—had led him to conclude that the current rules "cannot be sustained."

The University of Massachusetts announced its $300 million UMass Rising fundraising campaign in April 2013 to coincide with the school's 150th birthday.

The goal was to raise $300 million by June 2016, but as of May 2015, the campaign has surpassed that goal by $10 million.

UMass Amherst Foundation Board announced the fundraising success Thursday.

"We have truly received exceptional and broad-based support in our drive to propel UMass Amherst to new heights," said Robert Epstein, co-chairman of the fundraising campaign, in a press release.

The $310 million raised to date "reflects the passion and pride that our university inspires."

Columbia nonprofit leaders are speaking out about the importance of integrity in the wake of four charities being accused of fraudulently using more than $187 million in donations and are working to ensure the case doesn't dissuade donors from giving to legitimate causes. The local leaders also emphasized that honest organizations will have nothing to hide, and donors should feel free to ask questions before giving.

The four organizations under investigation solicited donations in Columbia and throughout South Carolina, as well as elsewhere, primarily through telemarketing.

Amnesty International UK has given street fundraisers virtual reality headsets so they can show the public the impact barrel bombing has had in Syria.

Street fundraisers in London, Manchester and Leeds have been equipped with refurbished smartphones and virtual reality headsets to offer potential donors a 360 view of the destruction caused by fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo.

Barrel bombs are cylindrical containers filled with explosive dropped from helicopters by the Assad regime in Syria. They have been banned by the United Nations Security Council because they indiscriminately target civilians.

Many nonprofits, such as Operation Smile, the World Wildlife Fund and the Central Park Conservancy, are doing Twitter so well they're outperforming their business brethren.

Branding. Marketing. Selling. There are countless reasons why you would use social media for business. And if you're a nonprofit organization, one of those reasons is fundraising.

In fact, as direct mail, telemarketing and other traditional methods of acquiring and retaining donors give way to digital communications, nonprofits of all shapes and sizes are jumping on the social media bandwagon. And many of them are working the crowds on these online channels as well or...

It's often a red flag when a nonprofit board does not expect its board members to "give/get" a meaningful amount of money. ("Give/get" is the term for the total amount that a board member is expected to contribute—give, and raise—get.) Indeed, if you're a member of a nonprofit board, you should be valued for much more than your wallet and your networks. Most importantly, boards should provide legal and fiduciary oversight. And board members should bring diverse experiences, perspectives, wisdom, business acumen and expertise to work in concert with the CEO to help the organization...

Email marketing engagement rates range from 1.5 percent to 4.79 percent, according to MailChimp. While the media and publishing industry boasts the highest click-through-rate (CTR) of 4.79 percent, restaurants, public relations, and daily deals all have industry CTRs below 2 percent. Add eroding open rates to the mix, and we quickly see why we need to revamp our email practices to stay relevant and effective.

But, declining open rates aren't just an email marketing issue—this metric impacts anyone who sends an email. In fact, the average worker sends and receives 121 business-related emails per day, or 15 emails per each working hour.

This is the final article in a series of three that follow up on questions submitted during the NonProfit PRO webinar that David Gunn from Salsa Labs and I presented. Here are my responses to some of the questions that were raised.