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Fundraising for “Friends of” Organizations
As a lifelong animal lover and longtime advocate, I knew I liked the sound of a nonprofit called “Friends of Oakland Animal Services”—after all, I live in Oakland and I love animals! Sold, right? But while I figured this was an organization I’d likely …
Scarcity or Abundance? An Experiment in Collaborative Fundraising
As a recovering lawyer, I wasn’t professionally trained in development when I became an executive director three years ago, yet my Board expected me to get to work fundraising…fast. When I began exploring the field, I quickly learned there are a lot …
The New Fundraising Frontier: Impact Investing
Capital campaigns can be a slog! Most organizations face similar challenges: donor fatigue, the time it takes to raise funds, rising development costs, and concerns about falling short of your fundraising goals. But what if there were another way to ra …
In-Kind Fundraising: A Great Way to Expand Your Budget
You’re desperate. You’re planning a fundraising event but don’t have the funds to book a venue or a caterer. So what do you do? First, breathe! Then, start thinking about options for support in a new way. The truth is, often your problem is actually an …
Achieving Equity: We Need a New Approach to Funding
Lately there has been a lot of focus on the issue of equity. “Equity” is obviously a broad term that encompasses a range of issues including income and wealth inequality, as well as economic opportunity. But at its core, equity is ultimately about crea …
The Best Route to Approaching Donors: Hand-Head-Heart
As someone who began her career as a fund raiser and migrated to become a funder as head of a large corporate foundation, I have a somewhat unique vantage point on the struggle many nonprofits endure when engaging funders and major donors to support th …
Branching out: Raising more dollars by understanding donors’ differences
With so many worthy non-profit causes nationwide all competing for donations, how can your organization reach and engage philanthropists? The answer is twofold: broaden your fundraising tactics to be more inclusive of multigenerational giving while emp …
Ask Rita: Sound answers to human resource questions
Dear Ask Rita in HR: In order to foster a culture of giving, my nonprofit organization requires employees to give an annual gift each year. While I agree that we should support the work of our organization, I object to the idea that I am forced to dona …
How do federal funding threats affect you?
It’s time for our next Blue Avocado Poll. Does your organization rely on federal funding? Are you discussing the possible budget cuts at the federal level? What are your contingency plans? Please take a minute to tell us what you are seeing, and …
A Milestone in Nonprofit Lending
Hello Avocados! We wanted to share this exciting milestone from the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California, founding and ongoing sponsor of Blue Avocado. In January 2017, the Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC) reached $2 mil …
