When Is the Best Time to Ask for a Monthly Gift?
May 22, 2017 at 9:40 am

When fundraisers ask me this, the answer is: no better time like the present! And, you should be asking all the time! The more you ask, the more monthly donors you’ll generate...

Trump Expansion of Abortion ‘Gag Rule’ Will Restrict $8.8B in US Aid
May 19, 2017 at 11:10 am

President Trump’s executive order to block U.S. aid to groups abroad that counsel or provide referrals about abortion went into effect Monday and will restrict nearly $9 billion in foreign health assistance. The rule, which has reproductive-rights advocates reeling, is significantly broader than similar bans in place intermittently since 1984. Those past actions were limited…

#NPPTrendingNow Ep. 2: Are Nonprofits Hypocritical?
May 19, 2017 at 10:49 am

Welcome back to #TrendingNow. This week, our readers were interested in some executive issues addressed by some of our top bloggers: Howard Levy, F. Duke Haddad and Jeff Jowdy...

25 Years on Relationship Fundraising
May 19, 2017 at 10:34 am

In this post-truth age, anyone who pretends they’re listening when they’re not may well be among the most under-informed, misguided and misled folks of all. It’s shocking to realize that people who’ve been nodding vigorously in agreement with you for decades may just have been humoring you all along, may have had little or no intention of actually doing what you thought they were so very enthusiastic about...

What Today’s Donor Wants: Managing Expectations and Measuring Impact
May 18, 2017 at 11:22 am

A transformation of sorts has occurred over the last 20 years in regard to donors’ expectations of nonprofits. In years past, donors were generally satisfied with the act of giving itself, relying on little more than the assurances of the nonprofit beneficiary of their donation that their funds were being put...

Between Pandering and Ignoring
May 18, 2017 at 10:59 am

When we seek to get the attention of a philanthropist to give to our cause, how do we go about it? The approach you choose will materially affect your level of success and has everything to do with how you view your donors...

Does the Nonprofit Industry Have an Employment Problem?
May 18, 2017 at 10:55 am

Doesn’t it feel like the employee turnover rate in the nonprofit sector is unreasonably high? It sure seems that each time I talk to a nonprofit organization, the person who used to be my contact is no longer there. It can be frustrating for volunteers and donors to deal with what feels like a revolving door of staffers...

Monthly Donors, You Complete Me
May 16, 2017 at 10:14 pm

I once had a great mentor who would regularly share hard truths on me. Once, for instance, when I was dating the wrong guy, he told me that it was like I’d “lost the steering to my own damn car.” He was right. Well, I think we sometimes need that kind of tough love in the nonprofit sector, too. How are you steering your fundraising program for success?...

Key to the Vault: Getting the Rich to Donate
May 16, 2017 at 10:08 pm

Last week the New York Times published an article titled, “How to Get the Wealthy to Donate.” The piece began with the statement, “Wealthy people are selfish jerks. So are their children.” The article chronicled research that looked at the differences in charitable giving based on net worth. The conclusion of the research studies was clear, “Across a wide range of ages, wealthy adults tended to share less of what they had with others...

Measuring for Impact: It’s Not a ‘One-Size-Fits-All’
May 16, 2017 at 11:43 am

These days, it’s simply not enough to want to make a difference. More recently, donors are more and more interested in finding out how their contribution to a charity influences its overall success. And who could blame them? The nonprofit sector is growing at a rapid pace, with over 1.5 million nonprofit organizations to-date...