(Originally posted October 2022.) I know. The latest data shows that Giving Tuesday is responsible for about .056% of your donations this year. And while that doesn’t sound like much, if it were multiplied by 365, you find that it is 20 times the daily rate necessary to reach your contributed revenue goals. But let’s take another look at that data. Your organization … [Read more...] about Giving Tuesday Is Here Once Again, As Is This Popular Little Article - Just Another Gimmick?
Fundraising
The 2024 Carol for Nonprofit Arts Organizations
The holiday tradition continues because we know you won’t read it. Each year, we attempt a rather bad parody of a famous holiday poem or song to run on the Tuesday before US Thanksgiving, the least likely time you’ll read it. Let alone sing it. This year, we butchered the famous Welsh carol, “The First Noël” (complete with diaeresis). It’s pretty cringe-worthy, but no … [Read more...] about The 2024 Carol for Nonprofit Arts Organizations
Why Do Donors Ask for Irrelevant Data?
Could it be that you never talked to them about your nonprofit’s charitable goals and how they mesh with the donor’s? Whose fault is that? A few weeks ago, I participated in a discussion about the arts and measuring impact in the community. As every other author does, I believed that the message that the arts are not a tax-exempt activity had been spread far and wide among … [Read more...] about Why Do Donors Ask for Irrelevant Data?
Funders: How Do You Hold Your Nonprofit Arts Organizations Accountable?
Alternately, are you just robotically giving the most money to previous beneficiaries? In a city in which I no longer live, I served on a local government arts panel evaluating capital requests from arts organizations in the community. We looked at a number of proposals from organizations with small, medium, and large budgets, but the money for such capital expenses came … [Read more...] about Funders: How Do You Hold Your Nonprofit Arts Organizations Accountable?
Reminder: No One Cares About Your Fiscal Year-End Except You
With June 30 just a couple of weeks away, remember why your donors donate to you If you are a nonprofit leader—executive director, board chair, development director, or another concerned citizen—and you saw the image of June 30 and panicked…relax. I mean, you probably won’t hit your financial goals if the money in hand, the pledges that will in fact be paid, or last year’s … [Read more...] about Reminder: No One Cares About Your Fiscal Year-End Except You