5 Ways a Chief of Staff Can Advance Nonprofit Sustainability
Guest Blog Author: Beth Jacobs, President of vChief The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a significant blow to the overall sustainability and operational productivity of many nonprofit organizations. As lockdowns disrupted the business models and fundraising cycles of organizations all over the world, many nonprofits had to implement budget cuts to avoid closing their doors at a […]
4 Types of Nonprofit Budgets and How to Create Them
For nonprofits like yours, financial planning is critical for effective fundraising and development. Although fundraising allows you to bring in the revenue you need to further your mission, it’s your financial strategy that allows you to manage that revenue effectively, keep expenses in check, and plan for growth. One of the most important tools for […]
Six Steps To Create a Fundraising Friendly Board
It’s no secret that most Board members rank fundraising as their least favorite activity. In studies both by BoardSource and Penelope Burk’s Cygnus Applied Research, Boards and CEOs rated nonprofit board fundraising performance abysmally. BoardSource asked CEOs to grade their organizations’ Board of Directors performance in the ten basic board responsibilities and gave only 5% […]
How to Prepare Now for the Holiday Giving Season: 5 Tip
Guest post by John Killoran of Snowball As you likely know, the year-end giving season is one of the most important times for nonprofits across the country. In fact, nearly one-third of annual giving occurs in the month of December! Because year-end giving is so important, you want to do everything you can to maximize […]
Managing Fundraising Across State Lines: 5 Considerations
Guest post written by Dr. Stephen Urich, CEO of Labyrinth, Inc. Quickly pivoting your strategies and messaging in 2020 was no easy feat, but many nonprofits have been able to reach and even exceed their fundraising goals over the past year. Now, it’s time to look ahead towards what your nonprofit can accomplish in 2021 […]
MIT’s Epstein Scandal: A Fundraising Parable for Us All
Trust. It’s the bedrock of every relationship, personal and professional. It’s also integral to ethics. And ethics have been on my mind a lot, since the bombshell revelation about the MIT Media Lab. Is it just me? I’ve been trying to get my head around how this could happen. Having spent my in-house fundraising career […]
First Things First: How To Manage Competing Demands As A Busy Fundraising Professional
If you’re reading this, you’ve probably taken a momentary pause from your full inbox, your double-booked calendar, and your ED or Board who keep coming up with “good ideas” to help your organization fundraise. I get it. I’ve been there. Whether you’re in a big development office or are a one-person shop, each day feels […]
Is Fundraising a Profession?
I recently spent five days in New Orleans attending the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) International Conference. It was an incredible experience, as it is every year. The most provocative question echoing from our conversations is one also debated on the Rogare Advisory Panel I serve on: Is fundraising really a profession? If it isn’t, […]