Grace Groner lived through the Great Depression, so saving money was her expertise. Nobody knew just how much she had saved until she died in January at age 100 and left $7 million to Lake Forest College, her alma mater…. “She could have lived in any house in Lake Forest but she chose not to. [...]

A few years ago, I was trying to drum up participation in our upcoming Alzheimer’s Association Memory Walk by hosting a booth at a community fair. I had cheery, purple decorations (purple is the signature color of the Alzheimer’s cause), freebies such as pens and magnets, and lots of information about our walk to [...]

The immediate outpouring of support for Haitian relief efforts has been astounding.  Donations are reaching record amounts and people continue to want to donate or fundraise to help the people of Haiti.
Britt Bravo has a great article with links: Helping Haiti: Places to Donate, Creative Fundraising Ideas, and Being a Smart Donor.  I’d like to [...]

Recently Don Griesmann posted a story on his blog that I believe is worth a read.  The organization profiled in the story, Kid Care, began as a labor of love, but ended abruptly after 18 years of service.
Its founders were not professionally trained in nonprofit management prior to starting their work.  They simply saw a [...]

I sent out a special email on Monday to those who are signed up for the Step by Step Fundraising newsletter.  It included some of the tips that I also posted here:  Annual Fund Drive, End-of-year Fundraising Success Strategies.
I got an email back from Tony with some great comments that maybe you can relate to.

Hi [...]

The great thing about writing a blog on a regular basis is that the author has the opportunity to really dive into a subject and examine it on a microscopic level.
Today is such a day, when we pull out our microscopes and peer deeply into our organization’s image. Let’s talk about voice mail and answering [...]

Strong leadership is essential to being successful with your fundraising goals.  There’s not just one or even a handful of leaders that are important to a nonprofit organization.  Leadership can come from staff (at all levels), donors, committee members, advocates, volunteers serving on short term projects (like fundraising events) or those that give a few [...]