Category Archives for News & Information


More changes for Nonprofit Financial Statements

Just when everyone got comfortable with nonprofit financial statements, and conditional and unconditional promises to give (instead of pledges) it appears as though there may be more changes ahead.  Granted, the new accounting rules proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board is more technical than most development professionals delve into on a regular basis, these […]

Do We Need to Schedule That Meeting?

This research into the human toll of too many meetings is a real eye-opener.  If it’s one thing development officers do — it’s meetings!  Meetings with volunteers, donors, committee chairs, colleagues, and department heads, etc.  While most development officers do not work in organizational structures this large, we could all benefit from a few less […]

Useful Study Identifies that Donors Have Unique Needs

This article from NPQ (Non Profit Quarterly) reminds development professionals, once again, that each donor to our organizations is unique.  They have unique perspectives and unique needs.  This research is helpful in further defining and understanding evolving preferences of broad ranges of constituents. Useful Study Reveals Generational Differences in What Engages Donors – NPQ – […]

More predictions about future giving . . . who should we believe?

More predictions about future giving trends have been released, and it differs greatly from another recent industry forecast.  Giving USA and the Lilly School have released a very encouraging and optimistic view of the road ahead in 2015 and 2016.  For anyone who has been watching the interactions between Giving USA and The Atlas of […]

Unlocking the Key to Male Donors

Anytime we see new and careful research in the industry, it is certainly worth taking a look, especially if it informs the key to male donors.  Upon further reflection, and actually reading the research, it does not appear as though the key to unlocking donor generosity has yet been found.  To be sure, making any […]

Record Giving in 2014. 2015 Outlook Bleak.

Few industry insiders will argue that 2014 was a record giving year, as this report clearly identifies. The good folks at Atlas of Giving have come out with their 2014 annual report.  Some may remember this group from their dust up with Giving USA about a year ago.  We’re not picking sides on which enterprise […]

What the Latest Research Says About Getting People to Give

This recent article posted at the Wall Street Journal Markets site, seems to contradict the recent industry trend of forgoing the annual report listing an organization’s donors.  While the tradition of publicly displaying a list of donors has been with us since our colonial days, this article suggests taking a more strategic approach to donor […]

Will IRA Charitable Rollover Deduction be extended for 2014?

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 […]

Increase in Donor-Advised Funds Worth Greater Vigilance

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.   […]

2014 U.S. Trust Study of High Net Worth Individuals

Encouraging news on high net worth individuals from the ongoing U.S. Trust /  Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy Survey.  Giving is up!  The overall findings seem to once again support several essential best practices, such as:  volunteers give more than non-volunteers; the more involved and engaged individuals are the larger their investment; and […]