We have been watching the incredible growth of donor-advised funds, not only at your local community foundation but more significantly at investment firms like Fidelity, Schwab and Vanguard.  Donor-advised funds represented four of the top ten recipients on The 2014 Philanthropy 400.  Lots of financial advisers are getting in on the game.  This article at […]

AFP News Release:  August 11, 2015 Fundraising Professionals Urge Candidate to Protect American Tradition of Philanthropy From Proposed Cap (Arlington, VA.) – In response to presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s college tuition plan, which would limit the value of the charitable deduction for gifts made by certain taxpayers, Andrew Watt, the president of the Association of […]

This is a very thought provoking article from Chief Learning Officer.  In many ways, descriptions of the new agile leader perfectly depict a successful nonprofit CEO or Executive Director.  The successful nonprofit CEO has always been called upon to serve as a catalyst for constituents and donors; and, to be the architect that creates maximum value […]

In some ways, development professionals and fundraisers can be their own worst enemy when it comes to communicating with board members and other decision makers outside of our profession.  Too often we respond to seemingly simple questions with unapproachable jargon and overly complicated explanations.  Penelope Burke has recently posted a direct, succinct justification for the essential role […]

The following post from the Independent Sector gives us all the current news on the IRA Charitable Rollover Deduction and developments of the 113th Congress, as well as an excellent toolkit to use in contacting your federal representatives encouraging the passage of this bill. UPDATE: Congress restores giving incentives for 2014 tax year The Senate signed […]

There has certainly been a lot of talk about the increase in giving to donor-advised funds, such as this article from the Investors Business Daily.  We can’t help but wonder what affect this might have for our communities in the future.  At first glance, one would think that growth in giving is good news.   […]

What do donors want?  Experienced fundraising professionals should be constantly asking themselves this question, and they should be earnestly working to learn the answer.  Upon seeing this headline at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, our interest was immediate.  It seems that so many articles these days address the emerging promise of increased results through technology and […]

We were reminded of the essential advice of John D. Rockefeller on the technique of soliciting last week, while attending a conference and listening to a nationally renowned development expert.  After reading Mr. Rockefeller’s remarks again, we felt it appropriate to share these timeless words of advice from one of our country’s most influential philanthropists. […]