Your CFC Application & Tax Reporting (990) – Size Matters

By Carter McNamara on December 20, 2012

As the year-end approaches, and since most non-profits use the calendar year for their tax returns, I wanted to highlight a few important aspects of a charity’s CFC application, and its financial management practices. First, in terms of applying to the CFC, there are three size categories with different levels of financial reporting required. These […]

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Fund Raising Philosophy For Start-Ups

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on December 18, 2012

There is a philosophy, widely subscribed to in the n-p sector, that views nonprofit start-ups as having a responsibility to the sector and to society to prove themselves viable before looking to raise funds from (too far) outside of the founding group. Just because they may have a valid purpose, and may come to serve […]

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Are You Ready to Apply for a Federal Grant? – A Checklist

By Jayme Sokolow on December 13, 2012

Once you have decided to apply for a federal grant, you must focus your nonprofit organization’s people and resources on the application process, which is likely to take at least a month. However, first you should determine whether you have all the requirements in place to apply. This financial checklist will define (suggest) the steps […]

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Reasons NOT to Combine Fundraising and Marketing Committees

By Carter McNamara on December 11, 2012

It’s common, especially for new or small nonprofits, to combine the responsibilities for fundraising and marketing into the same Board committee — after all, both functions include “getting the word out.” That’s what they have in common. But they have much more that is not in common. Part of a Fundraising Committee’s job is to […]

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Proposal Development: How to Structure Your Grant Proposal (Part 1)

By Lynn deLearie on December 6, 2012

In my June 6, 2011 post, I introduced “A Four-Step Process for Effective Grantsmanship,” including: (1) prospecting for foundation funding, (2) cultivation, (3) grant proposal development, and (4) grant management and stewardship. So far, I’ve provided a lot of introductory information on foundation and corporate grants, organizational readiness, grant management, and information on the first […]

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Do You Know WHY You Need To Fund-Raise?

By Tony Poderis on December 4, 2012

To be a successful fundraiser, you must know not only how your organization raises money, but also how it is spent. You must know and understand your organization’s budget so that you can explain to others the costs of operation and how the money to cover those costs is to be generated. Nearly all non-profits […]

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Special Events: Not What They Used To Be !!

By Natalie Lewis on November 29, 2012

And that’s a good thing !! Special events have evolved. Gone (for the most part) are the rubber chicken dinners — with a dais or a two-or-three-tier head table on stage, featuring the board or the event-committee-and-lead-sponsors sitting and eating dinner while the rest of the guests stare up at them. That model was fairly […]

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Publications as Development

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on November 27, 2012

The question was asked, “Can anyone tell me what characteristics make a publication a good development tool? What can I do to begin to pull together the various publications so that they help garner parent, student and donor support and further the continued growth of the school?” First must come the understanding of what development […]

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Using Graphics in Your Proposals (Part 2)

By Jayme Sokolow on November 15, 2012

Strong proposals depend on good data, and using good graphics in your grant proposals is an effective way to get your data to stand out and be remembered by reviewers. Make your Data Stand Out According to Mike Parkinson and Colleen Jolly (referenced in my last posting), there are five steps you should take to […]

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Naming Opportunities – The Basics

By Hank Lewis, MA, CFRM on November 13, 2012

Every nonprofit must have its own set of policies that cover all areas of service and operation; and, those policies must be written based on the circumstances and needs of that organization. First, you need to have policies in place to “regulate” what your organization will do with all gifts – cash, stock, in-kind, bequests, […]

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