Featured article
We Call It Development
But What Is It Really
When setting up a new development shop or restructuring an existing one, the last thing you should be worrying about is—well—development! The modern development department succeeds not because an organization has had an epiphany about the need to raise money, but because… read the full article
Blog Entries
An Example of Bad Email Damaging Relationship
I recently received an email request purporting to come from the president of the alumni association of a large private university. It asked me to call the vendor who was preparing a new alumni directory so that I could verify my information. What a scam! The email...
Sharing the Good News of a
Campaign on the Road to Success
Recently, I was asked again what a non-profit organization should do about announcing that a fund-raising campaign is racing toward its goal at a record-setting pace. It’s a question asked more often than one might think. If you’ve got a positive story to...
Say No to Contingent Pay
"Why not work on a percentage, bonus or commission for funds raised?" I am often asked. To increasing numbers, that seems to be the new "wave" of things. They suggest that maybe the old practice of working for a salary--one that should be fair and...
When I Forgot the Meaning of Philanthropy
Recently, during a meeting at our Church, I talked to Alice, our pastoral associate, about my wife Joyce and I offering to give a special major contribution for a program she heads. Alice is in charge of a group who regularly review the cases of fellow parishioners in...
Are You Responding to Inquiries Quickly Enough?
Nonprofit organizations are not entities with the principal mission to sell their goods and services in a way that maximizes the profit that reaches the bottom line. After all they are called nonprofits. However many nonprofits do have an earned income component. And...
Say Thanks even if You Don’t Get the Grant
I was greatly saddened recently to learn of the death of a key foundation official in our area whose generous and caring philanthropy was instrumental in giving me a running start as the new and first development director of a major non-profit organization. In my...
Why Give to the Arts When People
Are Starving in the Gutter?
I actually read that riveting question in the marginal notes of a proposal for funding an orchestra. The notes were penned by a trustee of a grant-making foundation during a meeting to review the proposal. Another trustee of the foundation, the one who presented the...
Use of Social Networking Sites on the Rise
If you are managing a nonprofit or some aspect of a nonprofit’s fundraising and have not yet found yourself faced with the question of what to do about online social network participation, you will be—and more likely sooner rather than later. Year after...
Can One Non-Profit Donate Money To Another?
I was asked if one 501(c)(3) non-profit can give money to another 501(c)(3) charity. With the usual, and necessary, caveat of, “I am not attorney, nor am I giving legal advice,” I responded that, Yes, when the transaction advances the donor non-profit's charitable...
Survey Shows Blacks & Hispanics More Likely Than Whites to Support Causes Online
African American and Hispanic adults are more likely to make charitable donations online than Caucasian adults, according to a study jointly conducted by Georgetown University Center for Social Impact Communications and Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide and released...
Raise-Funds.com
Raise-Funds is dedicated to providing information that can help nonprofit organizations survive and grow. Content falls into three main areas:
- Articles about nonprofit fundraising, management, governance, marketing, and communication.
- A blog calling attention to whatever catches the fancy of site editors and contributors.
- Curated content drawn from online and other sources.
Raise-Funds was founded by Tony Poderis, who was later joined by Dave Patterson. Dave is the site’s editor and publisher. Tony has retired from day-to-day involvement. The site is managed by Dave Patterson with generous assistance from Zuri Group.
