Christopher Davenport is the founder of 501 Videos, a company that makes videos exclusively for nonprofit clients. His experience includes years in Hollywood working on commercial films and, later, making documentaries. His website is home to Movie Mondays, a weekly series of short films featuring fundraising professionals in action. The interview was conducted by Don […]
#Interview: Allison Fine, Author & Analyst — Examines Intersection of Social Media & Social Change
Allison Fine researches and writes about the intersection of social media and social change. She is the co-author (with Beth Kanter) of the bestselling book, The Networked Nonprofit: Connecting with Social Media to Drive Change, as well as the award-winning Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age. She hosts a monthly podcast for The […]
#FUNDRAISING: Paul Jolly Inspires The Big Ask To Raise Big Money
We welcome back Paul Jolly, Director of Jump Start Growth, Inc., a nonprofit fundraising and consultancy in Washington DC. Today, Paul tells about the importance of breaking the donor-donation barrier. Many good therapists will tell you your achievements are limited only by your attitude. Organizations, as well as individuals, may have a mindset that limits what they […]
#FUNDRAISING: Does Your Nonprofit Need Help Keeping Up With Its Growing Donor Base?
Just this past week Idealware published its 2013 Field Guide to Software for nonprofits and charities. The staff at Idealware demarcate a number of areas that nonprofits and software developers have been collaborating, such as social-networking management, and gives reviews and how-tos on some of the solutions in the market. The book can be had […]
#PHILANTHROPY: Zuckerberg’s Millions Suggest New Style Of Giving By Young
Mark Zuckerberg always makes headlines, and few were as stunning as the ones he made in the fall of 2010 when he donated $100 million to the Newark, NJ school system − a system with which he has no personal connections whatsoever. His generosity was intended to help right the ship of one of the statistically […]
#VIDEOINTERVIEW: Paul Jolly of Jump Start Growth Helps Us Plan for the 2013 ‘Ask’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRW7kzj2ySo[/embed]
This past December, Paul Jolly, President of Jump Start Growth, Inc., talked about the spiritual side of fundraising, and how he works with nonprofits to help them appreciate the motives and desires of big donors. Paul’s company has many years of experience to bring to organizations that are trying to improve their success rates with […]
#FUNDRAISING: Resources To Find Grants For Your Nonprofit’s 2013 Budget
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Maybe the federal government won’t ever work up or agree to a budget to cover an entire fiscal year, but your nonprofit has to. The 2012-2013 fiscal year is already on many organizations’ calendars, and certainly the final sprint to the holiday donation-giving season is upon us. But along with the money, time, and goodwill […]
#PHILANTHROPY: Evidence Of ‘Emerging Charitable Markets’ & How To Tap Into Them
An article on yesterday’s E-Jewish Philanthropy caught our eye because the authors did a really interesting bit of research into the top givers in US in this calendar year. The study by Robert I. Evans and Avrum D. Lapin demonstrates how useful a careful parsing of statistics can be for fundraisers, and how that parsing […]
#PROAGING: Technology Can Encourage Socialization & Longevity
Perhaps the greatest gift of life is the ability to share many its aspects with others. We have communication skills and empathies that can enliven mundane tasks and reinforce the greater joys and tragedies of the human experience. As social beings, we seek out these shared experiences from our earliest infancy to our later golden […]
#FUNDRAISING: The Holiday Season For Donations Begins Now. Ready?
The pools are open and busy. The grill has cooled down since the July-4th Picnic. The MLB All-Star Game is tonight. It’s July. One of the traditional/old-fashioned ways to disrupt the heat is to hold a “Christmas in July” party, and your nonprofit or charity should be having one. Why? To celebrate the good work […]
#INTERVIEW: Derrick Feldmann, CEO of Achieve, Discusses The Millennial Impact Report Coming June 11
Derrick Feldmann is CEO of Achieve, a creative fundraising agency that produces The Millennial Impact Report, an annual research study of Millennial Generation donors. (The 2012 report will be released on Monday.) The agency also hosts the only national virtual summit, MCON, on Millennials annually. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of […]
#GRANTS: Dell Computers & Dell Foundation Offer Resources For Youth & Environment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnJom7my0J4[/youtube]
Dell Computers was founded in 1984 in Austin Texas and it became a worldwide leader in online sales of MSDOS/Windows/x86 computers within a decade. Michael and Susan Dell established their foundation in 1999 in an effort to present their booming company as a corporate citizen. The efforts of the foundation are to multiply the work […]
#PHILANTHROPY: Google Can Give Time, Resources, & AdWords To Nonprofits
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BsNPmJ8QL58[/youtube]
Google is the great behemoth of web searching and video hosting. Google.com is default homepage in millions of browsers and YouTube has inspired citizen journalists in war-torn Syria and video mashups of cute kittens in suburbia. Google.org is perhaps not as well known, but its philanthropic outreach is huge, and it offers that money and […]
#Inteview: Amy Eisenstein, Fundraising Consultant and Author of 50 Asks in 50 Weeks
Amy Eisenstein is a “no nonsense” fundraising consultant for local and national nonprofits. She is the author of 50 Asks in 50 Weeks: A Guide to Better Fundraising for Your Small Development Shop. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to the MKCREATIVE blog. MKC: […]
#Interview: Gail Perry, Fundraising Consultant, Trainer & Author of Fired-Up Fundraising
Gail Perry is a fundraising consultant and trainer and the author of Fired-Up Fundraising: Turn Your Board’s Passion into Action. She is a highly sought speaker and writes a popular blog. Her most recent venture is an online coaching group. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a […]
#interview: Tom Ahern — Author, Award-Winning Journalist, and Communications Consultant
Tom Ahern is the author of four books on fundraising communications, with a fifth on the way. An award-winning magazine journalist, he has written case statements for numerous campaigns and is a popular communications trainer and consultant. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor to […]
#Interview: Howard Adam Levy, Principal of Red Rooster Group
Howard Adam Levy is Principal of Red Rooster Group, a New York City-based branding, marketing and design agency for nonprofits. Howard, who began working with nonprofits as a graphic designer in 1991, founded the agency 10 years ago. The interview was conducted by Don Akchin, a principal of Nonprofit Marketing 360 and a frequent contributor […]
#Interview: Michael Stein, Author, Blogger, & Veteran Nonprofit Technology Strategist
Michael Stein, Senior Account Executive for Donordigital, is a veteran nonprofit technology strategist whose areas of expertise include online fundraising, email messaging, email list growth, blogging, website content, mobile messaging, and social media. With Nick Allen and Mal Warwick, Michael wrote the groundbreaking 1997 book Fundraising on the Internet: Recruiting and Renewing Donors Online. The […]
#Interview: Mazarine Treyz of the Wild Woman’s Fundraising blog and author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising
Mazarine Treyz writes the Wild Woman’s Fundraising blog and is the author of The Wild Woman’s Guide to Fundraising. A nonprofit fundraising consultant and trainer, she is also a social media trainer for the City of Austin, Texas.
#Interview: Syam Buradagunta, Blogger & Co-Founder of Blue Sky Collaborative
Syam Buradagunta is president and co-founder of Blue Sky Collaborative, a company that offers online pledge event software (Sweet) to nonprofits for walkathons, bike-a-thons and similar peer-to-peer fundraising events. The company also provides custom websites and a content management system. Syam and his co-founders worked in nonprofits before starting their firm in 2003. The interview […]
#Interview: Marc Pitman, Owner of the “Fundraising Coach” Blog, Author, and Fundraising Consultant
Marc A. Pitman writes the Fundraising Coach blog, in addition to writing books, giving seminars, engaging in social media and consulting with clients. His own fundraising career began at a small New England liberal arts college, but by 1999 he found the consulting life fulfilled his desire to teach and help people. Marc was interviewed […]
#Philanthropy: President’s Jobs Bill & Tax Proposal Not Warmly Welcomed By Charities
As arguments over what to do with and about the US economy and the federal deficit continue to shed more heat than light, President Obama sought to take the fight back to the Republicans with the ‘American Jobs Act’ announced last week. The act contains a mix of tax realignments likely to gain some Republican […]
#INTERVIEW: Jason Dick, Owner of “A Small Change” Fundraising Blog
“A Small Change” is a blog about fundraising. Its creator, Jason Dick, works full-time as a major gifts officer for Evergreen Healthcare Foundation in Kirkland, Washington. His seven years of fundraising experience include previous positions at a community college foundation and in human services. He started his blog four years ago. The interview was conducted […]
#Fundraising: Susan Emfinger Offers Ideas On Raising Big Donations In Economic Downtimes
Last week, I said that I would spend some time exploring questions that to my mind are important to fundraisers from both the charity and the education sectors. I introduced a series of loaded questions from a colleague of mine about the challenges of fundraising in the midst of the difficulties most of us face […]
#Fundraising: Susan Emfinger Discusses The Difficulties and Faulty Assumptions of Raising Money
In my last blog post, I said that I would spend some time exploring questions that to my mind are important to fundraisers from both the charity and the education sectors. Be careful what you wish for: just this week a former, non-fundraising colleague asked me a question recently that, frankly, I didn’t have the […]
#Development: Should You be Focused On Donor Retention Rather Than Acquisition?
The Agitator blog asked Agitator readers a simple question: What percentage of your nonprofit’s 1st time donors make a second gift? The final results of their survey show: 32% — less than 30 percent converted 29% — 30-39 percent converted 22% — 40-49 percent converted 17% — 50 percent or more converted […]
#MKCPARTNER: Susan Emfinger, Development Guru, Joins the MKCREATIVE Blog as Contributor
When the folks @MKCREATIVE first asked me to contribute to the MKC Blog, I wondered what I might have to share that would be of value to the blog’s readers, many of whom are in the non-profit (charity) sector. After all, the University sector is, in so many ways, very different from the non-profit or […]
Development: Acquiring Donors – When “Plan A” Falls Short
When The Agitator blog polled its nonprofit readers in April, the overwhelming majority said they get a second gift from less than 40% of their new donors. This prompted posts on two alternative – and very different – plans for finding new donors if “Plan A” doesn’t work. “Plan B” is essentially to give up on […]
Resources: Nonprofit Report, White Paper & eBook Round-up
Lori Halley at the The Wild Apricot Blog provides a useful summary of six recently published research reports, white papers, e-books and guides that might be of interest to non-profit and membership organizations. 2011 Millennial Donors Report Pew Internet and Family Life Project 2010 Nonprofit IT Staffing & Spending Report Social CRM for Associations […]
Philanthropy: Different Pitches For Different Needs
For many of us (baseball fans), spring officially arrived this weekend. Whichever team you support, may their ball season be as productive and rewarding as your fundraising year. And as you revitalize your new-year’s resolutions and strategies for fundraising, consider an interesting article we came across over the weekend. Written by Sean Stannard-Stockton, CEO of […]
#Development: Survey – Donors Concerned About How Money is Spent
Sophie Hudson, a writer for thirdsector.co.uk, summarized a recent FRSB survey which found that many donors were concerned that their donations went on administration and fundraising, rather than on programs and outreach. The FRSB is the independent self-regulatory body for UK fundraising. Sophie states that, “more than two-thirds of donors say they are concerned about […]
#Fundraising: Japan Relief & Creative Strategies to Motivate Giving
We welcome back Maria Lilly, who is discussing the ways many businesses are giving to relief efforts in Japan. The crisis in Japan has caught the attention of the entire world. As the Japanese search for survivors, struggle to control nuclear plants, and face the daunting challenge of reconstruction, governments around the world are trying […]