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#RiskyBusiness: Is Your Fundraising in Compliance with State Laws?
Blue Avocado introduces #RiskyBusiness, a column discussing the operating risks of running nonprofits, such as financials, contractors, volunteers, fundraising campaigns, expansions, M&A, contracts, board decision-making, capital projects, successi …
What Happened to My Annual Appeal? The Effect of the 2018 Tax Overall on Nonprofit Donations and the Rise of DAFs
With the holidays behind us and budget planning around the corner, it’s a good time to reexamine the effectiveness of the organization’s revenue sources, including the end of year appeal. Traditionally, the holidays at end-of-year is the time many dono …
#RiskyBusiness: Why Earned Income Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be
“When will your organization be sustainable?” This question is asked of nonprofits at an increasingly alarming rate in recent years. Where did this come from and who decided it is such a critical metric of success? More importantly, how can you determi …
How to Cultivate Big Donors with a Small Staff
Time is the most precious commodity in fundraising, especially when you are leading or part of a small but mighty development team. Knowing where to best invest your fundraising time is critical to success, yet it can be one of the hardest aspects of s …
Win Back Your Lapsed Donors: 3 Effective Strategies
Your nonprofit knows that every one of your donors is important to helping you continue your good work and achieve your mission. As soon as they’ve made their first gifts, hopefully you work hard to build your relationships with each of them, but that’ …
NextGen Nexus: The New Face of Philanthropy, Courtesy of Young America
I am often warning nonprofits looking to engage young people against putting too much emphasis on giving and social media. Research I have led has shown—and continues to show—that while your next generation of supporters donate and use social media to …
Funding Innovation: Top Tips
In the business world, innovation is seen as part of everyday business—it’s necessary for a company’s survival to stay ahead of the curve. In the social sector, innovation is just as important since nonprofits solve complex social problems, yet getting …
What I Learned as a Funder: Frank Tips for Nonprofits
Over decades in the social sector, I spent countless hours in the grant-seeking trenches and saw my share of things that left me wondering whether to laugh or cry. But then I became a foundation funder and encountered a prospective grantee’s “toxic dia …
Funder’s Corner: Finding Your Data Path to Success
Data. It’s all the rage nowadays, with data-driven fundraising and metrics and analysis driving every aspect of nonprofit operations and programming. So how do you know if you have the right systems in place to gather and disseminate the data that’s ke …
Three Things We Know About Engaging Millennials in Your Cause
I’ve studied how millennials engage with nonprofits and social causes for more than 10 years—a decade in which young leaders have revolutionized cause engagement. The way young America today approaches injustices is unlike that of their parents’ genera …
