30
2020
Pay it FWD
To say it’s been a hard couple of weeks seems such an understatement, that it’s almost comedic. We don’t know what’s in store for the foreseeable future, and we don’t claim to have the answers or even to fully understand the scope of the current situation we are in. What we hope is that we can add to the conversation, to create safe space to come together, to be vulnerable and to ask the really tough questions and as a sector to find a positive path forward. To that end, we have launched a Wednesday Zoom call to hold space,…
06
2017Increasing Donor Loyalty
Second in a series One of the most important and efficient ways to maintain and increase current revenue is in the retention of existing donors. Blackbaud estimates that it costs 6-7 times more to acquire a new donor than to retain an existing donor. A new donation offers up the promise of a long-term relationship. Like a friendship it must be two-way, worked on, mutually rewarding, respectful meaningful, and above all, loyal. Yet we lose many donors, often because the two-way character of the relationship is not understood. The latest report from the 2016 Fundraising Effectiveness Survey of the Urban Institute…
02
2013
A Recap – The Most Popular Posts in 2012
Happy New Year! In looking back over last year, Jim and I were interested to see what resonated with our readers the most and are eager to hear what topics our readers wished we’d written about. (The comment box below is a great place to let us know what you’d like to read more about, or if you’d prefer, send me an email at Dania(@)ToscanoAdvisors.com.) These are the top five most read posts of last year. 1. 5 Myths about Social Media for Nonprofit Organizations 2. Why Does a Nonprofit Board Need Young People? 3. The Ten “Must” Agreements Between…
26
2012
Why Your Nonprofit Should Try Out Social Media for Fundraising
A post by Ifdy Perez Many nonprofits are standing at the threshold, unsure of whether investing time and money in the “social media thing” is worth it. Nonprofits have important missions to accomplish, so adding something onto their already jam-packed schedules or finding room in an already stretched-out budget makes it less appealing. With this post, I wanted to help start a dialogue with nonprofits on the fence about social media. Here are 4 reasons why your nonprofit should consider jumping on the social media train. It’s Where the People Are Each year, the number of people who join social…
23
2012
5 Myths About Social Media for Nonprofit Organizations
A post by Dania T. Miwa 1. Social media is a great way to fundraise. While I agree it can be a great tool to reach potential donors and I have even seen a successful twitter fundraising campaign or two, what is typically more common is Nonprofits using social media as a stewardship tool to connect donors and constituents to the mission of an organization and help them to feel connected. Donations may in fact come out of that as a byproduct of good stewardship, but it is usually a secondary outcome 2. Social media will get people…
14
2012
Nature Conservancy: Cavorting in Sea, Surf and Deep Manure
A post by James V. Toscano Certain specific demographic cohorts flock to the annual swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated each year, presumably to experience nature and the environment up close. Some of our friends at Nature Conservancy were intrigued with the demographics of these readers, clearly holding the prospect of adding to NC constituency and donors, so they entered into a three-pronged sponsorship of this year’s swimsuit edition with the magazine and a high-end luxury website.
13
2012A New Beginning?
A post by James V. Toscano Memorial and honor gifts, the subject of a recent post, are kissing cousins to those hot responder gifts that arrive moments after catastrophe occurs. Now we hear that the Red Cross, with a pool of about 500,000 such donors, will join analysts at the Wharton School to discover messaging and tools to increase response rates from this group, typically only 10% the next year. Such donors are “the single biggest channel through which we can acquire new donors is in response to a disaster,” according to their senior director of market intelligence , although…
19
2012
Guest Post – The Best Advice to Achieve Success
Post by Gary Gilson When I headed the Minnesota News Council I heard what I consider the best advice for a nonprofit on how to achieve success. I was in Denver to conduct an ethics workshop for managers of public radio stations in the far west, and I heard a Washington, D.C.-based consultant tell them the two most important things they could do: 1) convince their audience that the station belonged to the listeners, not to the management, and 2) take risks to grow, even if risks meant incurring debt. In other words, a nonprofit had to be entrepreneurial to…
02
201112 of My Favorite Nonprofit Resources
Post by Dania Toscano Miwa There are many more than 12 but this is just a start. The first 3 are Minnesota based, if you are out of MN, skip to number 4. 1. The Principals and Practices for Nonprofit Excellence – This document is available courtesy of the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, which is also an excellent resource for Minnesota Nonprofits. 2. MAP for Nonprofits– Also Minnesota specific, but many of the services they offer, like their board boot camp can be adapted for any board. There are also templates such as an Executive Director evaluation template, local board position openings and a…
27
2011Social Media and Organizational Professionalism
Post by Dania Toscano Miwa Professionalism has been completely redefined as social media, and online networks have changed the way we interact with one another. What is professional and what is personal are now much harder to distinguish. Professional/personal lines are blurred online with both friends and colleagues on professional and personal sites. (See my description on Twin Cities Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Blog, here.)