By Tony Martignetti on October 17, 2013
Last month I focused on IRA gifts, now I’m back to bequests, picking up from August … with strategies other than direct mail to promote bequest giving. (See Tony’s previous posts on Planned Giving.) If you haven’t got the budget for direct mail, these are for you! If you’re using direct mail, augment it with […]
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By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on October 16, 2013
For over three-and-one-half years, we’ve been writing/posting about Fundraising/Development — The Basics and the more Advanced…. We’ve written on (in alphabetical order) Board & Staff Relations, Capital Campaigns, Certification, Corporate Fundraising, Development Staff, Donor Categories, Donor Recognition, Donor Relations, Effective Grantsmanship – Foundation and Government, Fundraising Accounting Practices, Fundraising Constituencies, Fundraising Consultants, Fundraising Ethics, Fundraising […]
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By Jayme Sokolow on October 10, 2013
When hikers get together, many of them talk about their boots. When chefs gather, they swap recipes. What do grant proposal professionals do? Many of us talk about the proposal-generating work environments at our nonprofits. What Good Companies Have in Common: Grant proposal professionals can learn how to create good work environments by looking at […]
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By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on October 8, 2013
A participant on a listserve raised the question: “What skills or personal qualities make one competent to ‘make the ask’ when meeting with a) an individual and b) a corporate representative?” Because I have some very strong feelings/opinions about the issue, and didn’t want to be angered/frustrated/annoyed by that discussion, I didn’t read the rest […]
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By Lynn deLearie on October 3, 2013
My two previous postings included the nuts and bolts of preparing financials for grant proposals to private and corporate foundations. This post will focus solely on a significant issue facing NPO’s seeking grant funding: namely that many foundations don’t provide general operating support. Instead, they prefer to fund specific programs or projects, and often something […]
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By Tony Poderis on October 1, 2013
I take the strong and unwavering position that members of the board of trustees and other volunteers are the people who must raise all or most of the money for a non-profit organization. These days far too many boards and eager-to-please development professionals are starting down the slippery slope of relying on staff to be […]
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By Carter McNamara on September 26, 2013
CFC Special Events & Resources In my July 11th post I talked about what a “culture of philanthropy” is, and the value of establishing one in your non-profit. The point is that CFC workplace giving campaigns provide many opportunities that smart non-profits can use as a “practice field” for many aspects of professional development, including […]
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By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on September 24, 2013
Unlike all of the other planned giving mechanisms, a bequest program doesn’t require major technical expertise and specific financial instruments. It’s easy, it’s fast, it can pay off substantially, and the dollars from bequests comprise close to 90% of all planned gifts. Many non-profit organizations refuse to get into planned giving because of the perception […]
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By Tony Martignetti on September 19, 2013
I’m taking a hiatus from bequests to help you get IRA gifts for your year-end appeal. Passed on January 1, 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 renewed charitable giving from individual retirement accounts (IRAs) for those 70-and-a-half or older. This gift opportunity ends on December 31 so the remaining months of the year […]
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By Tony Poderis on September 17, 2013
There comes a time when some non-profit development professionals begin thinking about saying goodbye to their organizations and hello to the world of fundraising consulting. They want to know what it takes to be a consultant, and how to find clients. Although the consulting profession may seem attractive, the leap into this hazardous arena requires […]
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