DM Diagnosis: Still Waiting …
On Day 60 I started to wonder if thank-you note etiquette had gone the way of eight-track cartridges, Astro Pops and leg warmers. But the Emily Post Institute assures that, to the contrary, thank-you notes still are de rigueur....
How to Love Fundraising
Imagine a baseball team full of players who don’t like baseball. To them, baseball is distasteful. A shady exercise that’s necessary to fill the stadium. The rules annoy them. They play with gritted teeth, resentful every minute. When they sit...
Web Bonus: The Art and Science of e-Cultivation
Online constituent relationship management tools enable organizations to connect with donors and prospects with increasing success. In the span of just a few years, the amount raised online by many nonprofit organizations has grown significantly. Still, donor e-cultivation is an...
‘A Really Fascinating, Kind of Insane Idea’
Feeling kind of limited by the communications, networking and advocacy-building capabilities of the real world? Never fear … plenty of opportunities abound in the virtual one. Second Life, for example, is a three-dimensional virtual world built and owned by...
Trends: In Your FACE!
More commonly called “canvassing” in the United States, face-to-face fundraising engages a younger donor base than more traditional media, with the average age of new donors between 32 and 33. In a world of aging supporter bases, the ability...
Listen Up!
This month, two of my favorite bloggers — the dead-on Jeff Brooks and the aridly witty Trent Stamp — make appearances and do what they do best, which is tell it like it is. And being the editor means that...
Web Exclusive: Small Scope, but Not Small Time
Community-based organizations come in many flavors: small, large, health-centered, arts-centered, etc. They’re as varied in scope and size as the communities they represent. But they do have one thing in common: They are distinctly qualified to directly impact their...
Your Secret Donor Hates You
I have a friend named Tim. He’s an investment banker in Manhattan, makes a ton of money and likes to give to those who are less fortunate than himself. Tim loves the concept of charity. Unfortunately, after 15 years...
Web Bonus: More Than In the Swim
The Georgia Aquarium opened in November 2005. But already the organization is running where other institutions like it are just learning to walk. It’s able to accommodate multiple, large-scale special events at one time, has partnered with area schools and...
Smart Cookies
If you think of Girl Scouts of the USA as a quaint organization that covers its operating expenses mainly by trotting out hordes of docile recruits to sell cookies on a grand scale, you’re not alone. You’re not right...
