19
2020
2020 1/2 In the Time of the Virus, Ten Trends for Significant Survival
Essay By Jim Toscano with additions by Dania Miwa. As we typically do, we released our 2020 predictions in December of last year. Then, in March all bets were suddenly off, as the infection and death rates started climbing and we began to realize the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for nonprofits. This is our attempt to re-forecast based on what we are telling clients, experiencing first hand and as we are seeing some national trends emerge. Leap Year 2020 did occur in February as did so many more events. We celebrated many of the anniversaries:100 years of women having…
28
2020
Here We Are
Is it over yet? It’s been almost a month since I posted last, which has both flown by, and seemed like several years. Jim and I will continue to host Pay it Fwd. (9:00 am PST, Wednesday’s on zoom Link here.) When we launched Pay it Fwd, I expected that it might last a few weeks and I’d be thrilled if we got even a few people every time, but every week has grown and has become a lovely community of support, laughter and a place to find the solutions together. I’m glad to have you all in my network…
15
2020
Board Transformation for Nonprofit Organizations
By Jim Toscano & Dania Toscano Miwa Board members have many responsibilities: decision-making, planning, hiring and overseeing the executive, making their own generous gifts, bringing peers to the table, serving as ambassadors to the community with some members actively serving on the development committee helping to raise funds. Many nonprofits do not have such board helping to raise funds and it is at their peril not to. The ideal situation is to gradually move to an organizational culture of philanthropy, a culture of constituent development. This starts with the Board leadership but envelops all in the organization, including staff, volunteers…
14
2019
2020: Ten Trends Affecting Nonprofits
Leap Year 2020 will see a tumultuous Presidential election, $10 billion in election spending, the decennial Census, 100 years of women voting, the summer Olympics in Tokyo, hotly contested Oscars, a thrilling World Series, a Rose Bowl with our new state of Oregon represented and substantial underlying changes in the nonprofit world. Here is what we see coming. 1. Rapid Underlying Change. Underneath a seeming stable overall sector, with slow growth over inflation, there are, and will be substantial underlying changes going on, with many organizations struggling to maintain this outward stability. Major flux will be the norm for many,…
29
2018
Building a Robust Volunteer Force
An Essay by Dania Toscano Miwa and Jim Toscano Fourth in a Series Volunteers are among the leading potential sources for new growth and new resources in nonprofit organizations. Volunteers and donors share many of the same values. This is seen when they express the reasons why they donate to and/or volunteer for a nonprofit organization. New volunteers become new donors. Many of the ways we prospect for new donors are the same strategies used in the recruitment of volunteers. Given that over 60 million American adults volunteer – which is approximately one-third of the total adult population – nonprofits…
11
2018
2018: Ten Nonprofit Trends
By Jim Toscano and Dania Miwa What a year 2017 was! Many of the trends outlined here prevailed through the year. Now, prepare for an even more unsettling, disruptive one. Change in individual donor strategy as the tax laws change. With fewer individuals expected to itemize under the provisions of the new tax law, new strategies will guide resource developments attempts to renew and expand previous donations. Donor retention and stewardship will take on new messaging emphasizing the donor. Donor cultivation and solicitation will also need to be more substantive, more-values based and more outcomes oriented. Change in donor assessment…
23
2017
The Big Shift in Fundraising
Note: This guest post is from Andy Robinson, a terrific fundraising trainer and consultant who works across North America. On November 15, Andy will be in St. Paul, leading a workshop for the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits: Mobilize Your Board to Raise More Money. I hope you can join him! -Dania Like many fundraisers, I always anticipate the annual release of Giving USA, which offers a thorough overview of trends in U.S. philanthropy. I’ve also been reading Ruth McCambridge of the Nonprofit Quarterly, whose cogent analysis of the Giving USA data is really helpful – and inspired this post. Thanks,…
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…
07
2017
Trump Tectonics
Just like the plates in earth’s crust, the three major sectors of our society– for-profit, nonprofit and government–are slowly but continuously shifting in terms of responsibility for various elements in the society. In the last century, government grew exponentially in terms of percentage of the GDP for which it was responsible. Nonprofits also grew, benefitting from the large economic growth of the nation, increase in civil need, growing private philanthropy and support from government through grants, contracts and other forms of subsidy. Since the presidential election and inauguration, we have something different, a phenomenon that is starting to produce earthquakes…
30
2016
New Twists on Philanthropy
Last week saw an interesting development in the world of philanthropy, usually defined as giving money to good causes. Often there is also an assumption that it’s done as a donation to a charity, with a tax deduction for the gift. Now we have two examples where that isn’t the case, or almost not the case. Variants on the impact investments of foundations and greater flexibility allowed private business, these new efforts have a much more defined focus. When the examples are provided by George Soros and Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg, other philanthropists take notice. George Soros’ Focus on…