Every nonprofit in existence needs money. Your ability to pay the bills depends upon it, not to speak of your ability to accomplish your mission. But do you really understand what it takes to be attractive to donors? Is your…
Just yesterday, I was interviewing a new student intern candidate in my office. During the course of our wide ranging discussion, the conversation turned to some of the interesting misconceptions we encounter with clients. I made the comment that we…
Let’s face it. Times couldn’t be tougher for many nonprofits, especially when it comes to raising money. And in the nonprofit world, things often run in inverse proportion: The tougher the economy, the greater the need…and the scarcer the resources. …
So…you want to start a nonprofit. Fantastic! That puts you in pretty good company. In any given year, as many as 75,000 applications for 501(c)(3) tax exemption are filed with the IRS. Less than half survive the process, but there…
It’s one of those administrative tasks that must be done every year: mailing your donors a year-end statement of their contributions. Even if you are receipting on a per gift basis, a year-end itemized report is a best practice that…
You’ve seen the news. You know it’s tough out there. Just this morning I saw the following headlines on my Chronicle of Philanthropy RSS feed: “Charitable Donations Fell by Nearly 6% in 2008”, “Ford Foundation Offers Buyouts to One-Third of…
In last week’s blog post, we looked at a set of core principles that are critical for nonprofit organizations needing to raise financial support. If you haven’t read it yet, check that one out before diving into this one. It…
It is the burning question of every nonprofit organization: “How do we get funding?” With the economy in the dumps, and recovery looking like a distant hope, this question screams for an answer. In fact, we get more requests from…