Charity Navigator

It’s imperative that you take online fundraising seriously. Take a look at the 15 most effective donor-acquisition and online-fundraising techniques used by top nonprofits.

1. Go Mobile, Now!
2. Grab People’s Attention
3. Make Sure It’s Branded
4. Use Compelling Imagery
5. Simplify, Simplify, Simplify
6. Reduce, Reduce, Reduce
7. Use Giving Levels
8. Encourage People to Give Monthly
9. Give People a Way to Stay in Touch
10. Add Social Proof
11. Put Security First
12. Be Transparent
13. Give Donors Something Nice
14. Take Advantage of the Moment
15. Don’t Forget About New Donors!

My nonprofit friends, it’s time we changed the conversation about “the overhead ratio”: the percentage of your organization’s expenses that go to administrative and fundraising costs. For too long, we’ve let a few bad apples confuse donors about what matters when judging a nonprofit. This confusion is actively harming the nonprofit community. Experts agree that many nonprofits should invest more in overhead, particularly administrative costs. You all know this as well as I do: You need to invest in your organization to be able to effectively serve your missions.

Roger Craver recently presented at FundRaising Success’ Engage Conference. Now, he undoubtedly said many, many wise things, but he read the following fairy tale — "Snow White and the Seven Small Woods People" — which arguably contains the nub of his message. Enjoy!

Donors should not favor charities that have low administration costs as they are likely to be low performers, new evidence has suggested. The research, conducted by Giving Evidence and GiveWell, is the first empirical data to be published about what administration costs indicate about charities' performance.

Ted Hart celebrates the third anniversary of his Nonprofit Coach radio show with a slew of nonprofit and fundraising experts.

Choice is good for fundraising. Even when the choice isn't very meaningful. Choice allows the donor to engage, even if she can't give. Or, in this case of this piece, to express her disapproval for a dodgy action while she gives. Choice does its magic even when it's meaningless. It can be better yet when the choice is meaningful.

I’m more of an optimist than fortune-teller, but the nonprofit sector is changing in some exciting ways. And I, for one, am excited to see what the new year brings. Following are five trends we should watch for.

Some question whether the Better Business Bureau's Wise Giving Alliance charity ratings really have teeth, and if the up to $15,000 it receives annually from charities that pay to use its seal of accreditation influences its decisions. The questions come as many charities, particularly smaller ones, struggle to raise money as the proportion of people's incomes devoted to charitable giving remains stagnant.

Recently, nonprofit watchdog and rating organization Charity Navigator surveyed 175 donors and 40 charities to get a better feel for 2012 year-end giving trends from both fundraisers themselves and the donors who give those funds.

Recent tweets from folks you should be following.