Fundraising Compass

A Call to Researchers: Use Online & F2F Networking to Develop Our Skills & Profession

By Suzanne Barlow, Director, Prospect Research, Pace University

In my opinion, there are two kinds of networking. The first is where close friends refer you to other friends and colleagues to move you forward in whatever goal you have – be it a date with someone, building a team for volleyball, or a chance to grow your idea, power, or position. This kind of networking is natural because we trust these friends, family and colleagues. Usually this trust is built by frequent interaction – plenty of experience with them – and they with you.

The second kind of networking, face-to-face, is hell – oh, did I just say that?… Read more

When the 2012 Annual Conference of the Council on Foundations Went Digital

By Mark Foley, Reprinted with permission of the Foundation Center

The explosion of social media is having a multiplier effect on the reach of the traditional annual conference. Long gone are the days when only those lucky enough to travel to the host city were able to attend a few sessions, network with peers, and grab as many handouts as possible to share with the folks back home.

With today’s social media, everyone in attendance can be a virtual fly on the wall, able to connect with everyone on the outside—in real-time—via text, audio and video. A new window—transparency—is coming of age, bringing with it the potential for increased participation… Read more

Recruiting Major Gift Officers

By Steven Ast, President and Managing Director, Steven Ast & Partners

There is no shortage of Major Gift officers…

There is, however, a shortage of Major Gift opportunities…

When we recruit Major Gift officers, we ask how a surprise Major Gift of “X” dollars will be designated. For discussion purposes, we define a major gift as six figures for a smaller (one million dollar plus or minus budget) and seven or eight figures for a larger philanthropy.

Few respond with a visionary, compelling and urgent opportunity. Is there any question why more fundraisers lack the opportunity to identify, cultivate, solicit and close Major Gifts? Read more

Ratings Reconciliation: When Everyone Has an Opinion on Prospect Capacity, who is right?

By Dan Lowman, Senior Vice President, Grenzebach, Glier and Associates

Some variation on the following scenario plays out every day in development offices around the world: A third-party wealth screening indicates that a person is a good prospect for a gift of $100,000. The prospect researcher does some additional research and rates the prospect at $250,000. An enthusiastic senior staff member (academic Dean, hospital administrator, research center director) meets this person at an event and emails the development office “definitely millions here.” Yet, when the gift officer enters the prospect’s data into the system, the rating is for $25,000… Read more

Foundation Center & International Human Rights Funders Group Release Study

By Mark Foley, Manager, Associates Program, FC. Reprinted with permission from the Foundation Center.

A partnership between the Foundation Center and the International Human Rights Funders Group (IHRFG) has produced the first data-driven portrait of how foundations are advancing human rights around the world. According to new research released in June by the two organizations, more than 12,000 human rights grants supported more than 6,800 organizations worldwide, amounting to $1.2 billion in 2010.

Advancing Human Rights: The State of Global Foundation Grantmaking confirms that human rights philanthropy is a global phenomenon: the 703 funders included in the analysis represent 29 countries across seven major world regions… Read more

The Importance of Controls in Fundraising

By Donna Baier Stein, Award-winning copywriter

As a freelance copywriter, my reputation stands on the results my fundraising campaigns produce. I’ve been writing copy for a variety of nonprofits since 1980. Often, the assignment is to write an appeal mailing, or renewal series, or even an annual report.

But I am also often invited to develop a new acquisition mailing (snail mail or email) to test against the client’s current control.

A control is the direct mail package or email or landing page that pulls in the best return on investment. Developing a long-term control—one that consistently beats other comers for years—is the holy grail for copywriters… Read more

All Posts

Authors:  Greg Alcock, Steven Ast, Suzanne Barlow, Carol Belair, Sarah Bernstein, Greg Bowden, Mark Bowman, Helen Brown, Steffanie Brown, Alicia Cerreto, Lisa Dietlin, Mark Egge, Ethan Fenton, Jen Filla, Mark Foley, George Ford, Dr. Eugene Fram, Richard Guiss, Mark Hefter, Esq., Lawrence Henze, J.D., John Hicks, Christopher Hubert, Jamie Hunte, Gil Israeli, Tracy Kaufman, Hillel Korin, David Langiulli, Sandra Larkin, Dan Lowman, Faön Mahunik, Megan McMillan, David Munshine, Clay Myers-Bowman, Alex Quinn, Avis Richards, Rusty Schweikart, Bradford Smith, Donna Baier Stein, Melissa Bank Stepno, Abi Sterne, Lyn Watner, Jeremy Woolf and Armando Zumaya.

January 26
The Enron Debacle, 15 Years Ago—2016 Lessons For Nonprofit Boards?
December 11
Why the Prophetic Model of Fundraising Doesn’t Work
September 23
How To Infiltrate Major Gifts Management Meetings
August 11
Mind the Gender Gap – Women’s role in philanthropy – A Canadian Perspective
July 13
Brushing Shoulders with China’s Nouveaux Riche
June 17
Know Your Audience: Storytelling Through the Generations
May 13
What Fundraisers Want
April 27
My Letter To Your Vice President
April 9
I Am a Matchmaker
March 18
Thanking Your Donors. Do It Right!
February 25
Attracting the Next Generation of Donors
February 6
The Allure of Proactive Research
January 22
If You Believe in Predictive Modeling
January 5
18 Great Resources Every Fundraiser Should Know About
December 22
A Change of Seasons: Fundraising in the Summer
December 8
Executive Order for Open and Machine Readable Data
November 25
Empowered Donor-Fundraiser Relationships
November 10
The Power of Big Data: Why The Numbers Matter
October 31
Co-Membership and Fundraising: Affiliations, Networks and Community
October 21
A Gift Frequency to Area Report Can Locate Your Most Loyal Donors
October 8
Why “How Matters” To Fundraising
September 29
Game Theory: One Tool For Understanding Donor Motivation
September 10
Analytics: A Cadenced Strategy
September 7
How to Be Heard by Foundations Not Accepting Unsolicited Proposals
August 26
Grant Seeking? Upping Your Odds of Funding
August 11
Politics, The Ask and Prospect Research
July 28
Research Alert: Corporate and Foundation Profiling is Easy!
July 24
Optimism: The Lifeblood of Fundraising
July 13
The Challenges of Proactive Research for Major Gifts
June 30
Fill that Pipeline! Getting Started With Proactive Research
June 17
The Two Faces of Prospect Management
June 2
Data Mining: Searching Your Database for Gold
May 13
Under Investing in Fundraising: The Myth of the One Person Development Shop
April 24
It’s about the relationship!
April 8
Shopping for a New Prospect Research Tool? 7 Steps to Help Guide your Purchase
March 21
Finding Access People is Key to Advance Major Gifts
March 5
6 Simple Ways to Strategically Use LinkedIn for Non-Profit Fundraising
February 19
Glasspockets Find: 2014 Gates Annual Letter
February 4
Stewardship: A Plan for Investor Growth
January 13
Customer Service in Alumni Engagement
December 26
A Nonprofit Paradox: Weak Leadership Pool, Positive Organization Outcomes
December 11
Transformational Philanthropy
November 27
An Unlikely Case for Planned Giving: Grafton, Vermont
November 13
For Birger Sandzén: A Case of Missed Fundraising Opportunities
October 29
A Critical Skill: Valuing Real Estate
October 18
The Real Wealth of New York City
October 4
A Call to Researchers: Use Online & F2F Networking to Develop Our Skills & Profession
September 12
Timely Tweets: Real Time Marketing in the Fundraising Industry
August 19
Recruiting Major Gift Officers
August 6
Ratings Reconciliation: When Everyone Has an Opinion on Prospect Capacity, who is right?
July 24
Foundation Center & International Human Rights Funders Group Release Study
July 11
The Importance of Controls in Fundraising
June 25
Five (Free) Must-Read Reports on Philanthropy
June 12
How Media Raises Fundraising
May 20
Subway Ads & Fundraising: Why Peanuts Matter
May 9
Learning Relationships, Love and Becoming a Major Gifts Fundraising Organization
May 3
Who Are Your Access People? Identify and use them to reach out to major-gifts prospects Read more

Five (Free) Must-Read Reports on Philanthropy

New 2013 Reports

2013 June: Giving USA: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2012
Download Highlights (at bottom) and Articles

2013 May: D5’s “State of the Work” Report Features Efforts by Foundations to Increase Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion D5 Report

2013 May: “Foundation Transparency: What Nonprofits Want”: in a report released by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (based on a survey of 138 nonprofit leaders), nonprofit organizations call for greater transparency from the foundations that fund them. CEP Report

2013 April: Clayton Burnett Report – “What Makes Fundraising Truly Great?” – a unique year-long study to answer the question ‘What are the factors that allow an organization to double, treble or even quadruple its income?’ CB Report

Philanthropy and the Social Economy: Blueprint 2013 – is an annual industry forecast written by leading philanthropy scholar Lucy Bernholz about the social economy — private capital used for public good. Register to GrantCraft for free downloads

2012 and 2013 Reports and Other Resources on the Reports Page of FC

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