At the beginning of December last year Sandy Rees and I released the ebook titled 7 Essential Steps to Raising Money by Mail.   Even though the printed version was not ready then we wanted to get this information out to groups who were finishing up a year-end appeal.  There was an ebook only option, but […]

1. Failure to ask for a gift. Don’t assume that your donors will know what you want them to do. Ask for a gift.  And make sure to include a reply envelope to make it easy for your donors to send their gift to you. 2. Using a dirty list. Keeping your list clean is […]

Grants are not my area of expertise, but I do like to be familiar with the basics. One of those basics of course is that there are many more requests out there than actual grants available. 80% of donations to non-profits come from individuals not foundations or corporations. Which are two reasons I’d rather focus […]

How will Obama’s Presidency impact nonprofits and the people they serve?  Only time will tell.  This story though starts this new era on a high note. Earl Stafford, businessman and philanthropist from Virginia, helped hundreds of “ordinary people” be a part of the history making events in Washington DC this week.  The People’s Inaugural Project, […]

I have presented fund-raising workshops in many countries outside North America during a professional career of more than 35 years. I have also presented fund-raising workshops to numerous foreign visitors in the United States who were representing charities in their respective countries. In every case, the people who attended my workshops came from nations in […]

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. we set aside today as a holiday. While it is a historic day, it is not a time to look back with either the extremes of sentimentality or heated debate. It’s a time for appreciation, work and looking toward the future. There are many clips of Dr. King’s […]

In the December newsletter I included a feature called “Year in Review” – Mini Annual Reports by Email. It showed an example of how Village Enterprise Fund updated the traditional annual report into our digital age. Many nonprofits work on the calendar year, but others have fiscal years that end in other months.  For example, […]