Category Archives for News & Information


Newsflash: Capital Campaigns Raise More Money

As reported in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, a recent study by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative reports that in 2015 capital campaigns helped to drive bigger revenues, and that two-thirds of those organizations that were in a capital campaign reported that giving was up.  What did you say?  This isn’t really shocking news!  No, it’s not […]

Can your front line people answer these donor questions?

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 […]

A Few Tips on More Effective Board Meetings

We found this helpful article at the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  Of course any discussion about how charity boards work too often assumes that they are all alike, and that they should all operate in a similar manner.  The truth of the matter is much more complicated.  Some smaller nonprofit organizations struggle to secure adequate staffing […]

Clinton College Plan Damaging to Philanthropy

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 […]

Just Ask – You’ll be More Successful than You Think

Results of this research reported in the Harvard Business Review support many of the age-old axioms of successful fundraising.  Sharing this article with board members and volunteer fundraisers at your next orientation or training meeting may prove to be very effective.  Too often, volunteer fundraisers are overly fixated on objections and failures.  This article readily […]

The Nonprofit Leader as Catalyst, Architect and Coach

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 […]

An Excellent Board Primer on Donor Stewardship

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 […]

How are organizations working with donor advised funds?

Donor-Advised Funds continue to grow in popularity and growth.  We recently noted this trend here as well.  Is Fidelity, which is but one option for the donor advised fund, really doing a better job promoting the tax-wise benefits of giving than all of our nation’s community foundations and individual charities?  What are they offering the […]

Donors are becoming more concerned with quantifiable outcomes

Our take-away from this article may be quite different from that of the typical reader at the Economist. This article is of interest because it articulates an evolving trend with a reportedly growing number of donors. A new generation of donors are now hyper-focused on demonstrable outcomes and results. Great! Understanding the needs of donors […]

Leadership development tips for Fundraisers

Development Officers and Fundraisers are leaders.  Whether or not your job title and description list leadership as a requirement within your organizations – rest assured that volunteers, donors and other colleagues look to you as a leader.  That’s why the headline of this article at the Harvard Business Review grabbed our interest.  Upon considering the […]