AARP

Recent tweets from folks you should follow.

Recent tweets from folks you should follow.

The term "Big Data" gets tossed around an awful lot these days, no matter if you're talking the business sector or nonprofit fundraising sector. But "big data is really about the small data," said David Acup, managing director of interactive marketing and membership at the Environmental Defense Fund.

The term "Big Data" gets tossed around an awful lot these days, no matter if you're talking the business sector or nonprofit fundraising sector. But "big data is really about the small data," said David Acup, managing director of interactive marketing and membership at the Environmental Defense Fund.

People on the move in the nonprofit fundraising world, September 2014.

Gone are the days when nonprofits needed to rely only on street canvassing and paper pleas for donations. Email and social media are quickly revolutionizing charity, and according to a new study from M+R and the Nonprofit Technology Network, 2013 was the space's best year yet.

The study breaks down exactly how leading U.S. nonprofits performed online in the past year. In 2013, Internet users donated more than ever before — online giving increased 14 percent since 2012, with more than 5.5 million total gifts and nearly $325 million raised.

Here is a mobile and social fundraising success checklist excerpted from "Mobile for Good: A How-To Fundraising Guide for Nonprofits" by Heather Mansfield, founder and principal blogger at Nonprofit Tech for Good. By reading the book and implementing the steps necessary to launch a comprehensive mobile and social fundraixsing plan — and checking off the must-do items as you go along — your nonprofit will have in place mobile and social fundraising plan flexible enough to adjust to rapid changes in fundraising and communication technology that will occur over the next decade.

I recently read a stat that 70 percent of U.S. disposable income is controlled by baby boomers. Taken together with the stat from Blackbaud’s “Next Generation of American Giving” report that boomers contribute 43 precent of all charitable giving, one thing is clear: Baby boomers should be at the top of every nonprofit professional’s mind.
 
But how do we reach them, and what’s the best offer? How do they compare to the older generation of people who are currently giving? And can we really just lump 70 million people into one segment?

Watch this video on the AARP's donor questionnaire and petition package.

The overall economy has been expanding slowly, but at least one sector is vibrant: nonprofits, which have been growing at a breakneck pace. From 2001 to 2011, the number of nonprofits in the United States grew 25 percent while the number of for-profit businesses rose by half of 1 percent, according to the most recent figures compiled by the Urban Institute.