In the best of times, many nonprofits struggle with donor acquisition, retention, and, worst of all, lapsed donors. Now, with the North American financial markets imploding from the sub-prime mortgage fallout in the US, experts predict that voluntary sector organizations...
In the ultra-competitive world of charitable enterprise, the communications quest for donor dollars often takes a path that circumvents focus on the pocketbook and instead appeals to the area just behind the breast pocket: the heart. Getting your attention Sandy...
On the surface, the difference between a corporate and an individual gift might seem quite negligible. However, it is important for charities to be aware of the differences between these two types of gifts so that they can ensure they...
The most valuable thing in direct mail fundraising isn't your donors, but your donor data. Your building could burn down this afternoon, and all your staff could quit, and you'd still be able to recover if your donor data remained...
On February 14th, an impactful Valentine’s Day card arrived in the mailboxes of a group of unsuspecting donors. So impactful, in fact, that its sender, Ottawa-based SuzukiMusic - a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the musical education of children using the...
Many small charities and churches start out tracking their donors and donations, and creating their charitable receipts, using a homegrown system. Most often, in my experience, this is built with Microsoft Excel and Word, but sometimes Access or another simple...
In his 2000 book, The Tipping Point, author Malcolm Gladwell wrote about the power of people he called “connectors”. Social engagers, these individuals tend to have a large network of contacts from a range of social, professional, economic and cultural...
No one would argue the fact that every fundraising campaign needs a goal and that everyone connected with the campaign, including prospective donors, needs to be aware of that goal. Then why do people so often fight the setting of...
Canada and the United States share the longest undefended border in the world and we consider ourselves to be good neighbours, but when it comes to cross-border donations things can get a bit tricky. Adam Aptowitzer, a lawyer with the...
When Professor Ida Berger of Ryerson University’s Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies published a study in Voluntas last summer, the nonprofit sector received some additional discourse for their boardroom tables. The report, The Influence of Religion on Philanthropy in Canada,...
