Here’s a summary of recent articles and blogs related to fundraising and nonprofit organizations. As always, please forward this to others who might benefit from the information. Thanks again for reading!
FUNDRAISING
- The Courage To Change Early this year the 100 year-old American Cancer Society (ACS) rocked the direct response ecosystem with its decision to stop all direct mail acquisition Judging from comments overheard at the February DMA conference, you’d have thought rather than finding a cure for cancer … by Agitator Roger Craver
- Easy Money for Nonprofits! That’s how many nonprofits view the topic of grants. One of your board members sees that XYZ Charity just landed a three-year $100,000 grant from the ABC Foundation…and shouldn’t you drop everything and apply? Foundation grantseeking is is a strategic process, not a one-time grant submission … by Pamela Grow
- The Pre-Ask Meeting: Who, What, When, Where and Why? The most important activity on every cultivation plan for soliciting major gifts from prospective donors is a personal meeting or visit … by Amy Eisenstein
- Breaking Down Your Data: How to Set Your Own Benchmarks Do you track any data regarding your email open rates? Click-through or response rates? The eNonprofit Benchmarks Study found a 27% decline in click-through rates for fundraising emails. Is that in line with what your organization is seeing? by Kristina Leroux
- Nell Edgington: 5 Reasons Your Nonprofit Isn’t Raising Enough Money The majority of nonprofits struggle to bring money in the door. And they often don’t know why. When you are on the inside of an organization that is used to doing things a certain way it can be nearly impossible to see new opportunities … via AFP Blog
- The Pure Joy of Being Part of the Nonprofit World. Each day at Bloomerang, all of our team has the pleasure and true honor of helping hundreds of charities achieve their mission via our fundraising database software… from Bloomerang Blog
LEADERSHIP
- Board Members’ #1 Job: How to Be A Personal Advocate For Your Cause You joined the board because you really, really believed in the cause. It meant a lot to you. But when you try to talk to your friends about your organization’s work, do you know what to say? Maybe yes, maybe no … by Gail Perry
- Nonprofit Social Enterprises: Introduction A nonprofit social enterprise has 3 characteristics that distinguish it from other types of businesses, nonprofits and government agencies… by Gene Takagi
- Overhead isn’t the issue – and it’s not a fundraising tool People talk about the percentage of a nonprofit’s budget that goes to “overhead.” Here in the USA, they can easily look at a charities 990 … by Marc A. Pitman
SOCIAL MEDIA / MARKETING
- Advancing Social Media Measurement for Philanthropic Outcomes How do you measure your network to learn how to improve outcomes? That was one of many questions during a Twitter Chat last week around the #sm_re hashtag. The chat was a prelude to a convening on April 25th at the Robert Wood Johnston Foundation of 40 thinkers and practitioners… by Beth Kanter
- 10 tips for crafting engaging tweets Interact with your audience for maximum impact. Tweets are a fantastic way to draw kindness and attention to a cause that matters. The key is … by Valerie J. Wilson
- 4 Lessons in Engagement From a Shack in the Woods. The greatest job I ever had was working for the Wild Bird Care Centre in a small, log cabin in a forest in Canada. Because my grad degree was in Fundraising, I began to learn that the charity I loved so dearly was missing a few opportunities … by Margaux Smith
- The Power of Place: The @home Campaign I met Mark Horvath, winner of the 2013 NTC Rob Stuart Memorial Award, at NTC in 2010. I was struck by his passion and his innovation in using social media to inspire thousands of people to join the movement to fight homelessness in America… by Danny Alpert
- Have Talking Points, Will Travel Talking points aren’t just for press conferences. … by Joanne Fritz
- Shape Stories to Motivate Action: Nonprofit Storytelling #8. Stories are at the top of the format heap right now, because they work. Although they’ve been around forever (the Lascaux cave paintings in SW France are 17,000 years old), most of us still thrill to good stories on pages and screens. … by Nancy Schwartz
- Nonprofit Brand as Place. “Brand” used to mean logo, typeface, color, packaging, jingles and ads. Today it’s better thought of as the overall experience anyone—a supporter, customer, passerby—has when they brush against your organization. … by Tom Peterson
NONPROFIT NEWS
- Are You Ok With Ok? Over half the charities recently surveyed in the USA said they were unable to meet demand last year; even more say they won’t be able to meet demand this year… by Charlie Hulme
- Study examines nonprofits’ expenses – Citizens’ Voice: A new legislative study examining the financial picture for more than 600 nonprofit organizations in Pennsylvania appears as state lawmakers are moving a bill to assert their right to define what a public charity is. Via AFP Blog
- 33 Free Nonprofit Webinars for May 2013 A round-up of 33 free nonprofit webinars for May includes topics such as: recruiting professional volunteers, e-strategy, inbound marketing, Facebook for executive staff and much more. From Wild Apricot Blog
- Fundraising costs are not a measure of a charity’s effectiveness | Voluntary Sector Network: Fundraising costs are influenced by many factors, but marketing can perpetuate the myth that they are a measure of efficiency… via AFP Blog
