Planned Giving

Dialogue with your donors, clients or prospects begins with good data; we all know that one tenet of direct mail—garbage in and out. When we go to the mailbox, a treasure trove of information on fun, as well as vital information, awaits us. Some good, some bad and at most, lame or even useless...

In our sector, we are constantly faced with obstacles of how we can increase charitable giving; but more particularly, how can we get our donors to continue to give over the years. A donor-advised fund is an account sponsored by a nonprofit organization that enables donors to give to charities and receive tax benefits—essentially a charitable savings account…

Ever notice how sometimes when we put on our work hats we cease to be human? How we somehow morph into little robotic “professionals” and become enamored of jargon? “Lybnts.” “Sybnts.” “Recaptures.” Not that those things aren’t important. You need goals and objectives...

Ask your Magic 8-Ball about the state of charitable giving in the next few years, and there’s a good chance it’ll tell you “outlook good.” As long as it’s getting its info from Marts & Lundy and the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, that is...

The relationship between nonprofits and donors is always evolving. New, innovative tech platforms for fundraising and management continually emerge on the market. These can increase organizational reach and impact, but there are remaining barriers to new technology for many nonprofits...

Monthly giving is seeing double-digit increases in year-over-year growth, and for good reason. Nonprofits depend on a continuously scalable base of donors and revenue to fund their important missions and services. Among the many options in an organization’s fundraising portfolio, monthly giving offers a more reliable, steady income stream that is resilient to economic ups and downs...

A year or so ago, I joined 20 organizations with a monthly gift. And (sneaky me), I gave them a card that was going to expire a month later. I then tracked what organizations did in terms of “thank you” letters and actions to try to get me back...

A nonprofit corporation announced Wednesday that it's signed an agreement with federal officials to raise $30 million for a new veterans outpatient clinic in Omaha. Officials said it's the first of five public-private pilot projects nationwide for the Department of Veterans Affairs. The local money will be added to $56 million already appropriated for the…

The day after Thanksgiving, the holidays hit full-force. And it’s not just the radio stations blasting “Here Comes Santa Claus” every half hour—it’s the shopping frenzies of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Thankfully, (no pun intended) for the past four years, we’ve had a day to shift the focus away from materialism and back to the true spirit of the holidays: Giving Tuesday...

For the first time on record, the nonprofit that received the most in donations in the country is not what you typically think of as a nonprofit—and that has some in the nonprofit sector worried that the new model is upending traditional philanthropy. Giving accounts allow donors to get an immediate tax benefit when they…