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Jun 2012Ten Conditions for Success in Fundraising
The Good Counsel A post By James V. Toscano 1. A Strong Vision/ Mission that articulates an appealing and attractive value proposition for those donors and prospects sharing similar values. Donors are attracted to Mission-driven organizations. 2. Program Quality. With all of the hoopla and buzz on other aspects of performance, quality still counts and separates the winners from the losers. Empirical markers of quality, such as outstanding inputs, processes, people and results clearly result in success and boost the potential for funding. 3. Board Leadership/ Management. Nothing beats an engaged, active, fundraising board and a committed director. Charisma helps, although…
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Jun 2012Twive and Receive: National Philanthropy Contest
A post by Dania T. Miwa This Article was originally published on bepollen.com on June 1st. Philanthropy goes Twitter on June 14. In cities across the country, bloggers and other social media influencers have each picked one local cause to support. These champions are now rallying their followers on Twitter, Facebook, and their blogs to donate as much as possible to their chosen local charity on June 14 in the hopes of securing an additional cash award during the Twitter-based fundraising contest called “Twive and Receive” (like Twitter and give combined). At 12:00 a.m.Pacific Time on June 14, the 24…
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May 20125 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…
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May 2012Impact Measurement – Part Three of Three
A Post by James V. Toscano Measuring impact of nonprofit programs is clearly an important element in determination of benefit to society. It has also become a proxy to demonstrate return on investment to governments, foundations, corporations and other donors. The state of the art and science of such impact determination is largely work in progress. Certain nonprofit sectors, namely healthcare and education, are well advanced in such measurement compared to other sectors. Epidemiological methodology, such as used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has important elements that are available to be adopted/adapted by other sectors. Using such tools…
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May 2012Impact Measurement – Part Two of Three
A post by James V. Toscano There is currently considerable buzz about performance, outcomes, results and other measures of impact in the nonprofit world. Foundations and corporate funders are now interested in what the results of the inputs of their grants are. Individual donors are told that they should also be very interested in what their gift dollars produce. In the Part One, questions on the uses of epidemiological variables and the need for standardized measurement and agreement on those measures were raised. In Part Three, the necessity for empirical testing to really determine causality will be explored in some…
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Apr 2012Impact Measurement – Part One of Three
A post by James V. Toscano The Wall Street Journal Report on “Innovation in Health Care” of April 16 has a number of articles on directions in the way health care is moving, with constant referral to the mountains of data routinely collected on the multitude of variables considered important in measuring outcome. Having spent over thirty years of my career in nonprofit health care organizations managing research and education, I am most familiar with data, its collection, analyses, and uses. Modern medicine is built on empirical studies which determine significant directions in the diagnosis, treatment and care of patients….
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Apr 2012Why I’m going to Twive & Receive on June 14th
Post by Dania Toscano Miwa This year on June 14th I’m participating in Twive and Receive which is one day where over 100 cities mobilize their donors to give to a single nonprofit in their community. I have chosen the Animal Humane Society of the Twin Cities. I chose AHS because every dog and cat I’ve ever had growing up came from there. For example, Samson was a German Shepard who was rejected by the police academy for being too nice. He was the smartest dog I’ve ever known and his favorite treats were peanuts. Venus is the Siamese mix…
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Apr 2012Social Impact Bonds
A post by James V. Toscano A new report sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation, A New Tool for Scaling Impact: How Social Impact Bonds Can Mobilize Private Capital To Advance Social Good, gives an interesting boost to the British idea of infusing private capital into projects that have a societal return, with repayment based on the success of the project. In the introduction to the report, Judith Rodin, Rockefeller Foundation president states: “Social Impact Bonds have the potential to substantially transform the social sector, support poor and vulnerable communities, and create new financial flows for human service delivery by offering…
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Apr 2012Nonprofit Board Search
Announcement from Dania Toscano Miwa Here at Toscano Advisors, we’ve been thinking about what an amazing sector we work in, especially in Minnesota. As we were discussing this and brainstorming ideas to add even more value to this already vibrant sector and we think we’ve found one! We are very excited to launch Nonprofit Board Search which is a free service from Toscano Advisors, allowing nonprofits to submit their open board positions on this site. Now, I realize this may sound like a rather self-serving, even a shameless self promotion post. However, we know most, if not all, of our…
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Mar 2012Guest Post – Dealing With the Fear of Fundraising
A post by Jim Thalhuber The March 5 blog headline reads, “We’re all development officers now!” As one who has worked in and with hundreds of nonprofits organizations over the past three-plus decades, I could not agree more with this proclamation. Unfortunately, I have not always found this to be the case in the nonprofit sector. Why? For many nonprofits, it stems directly from CEOs and Executive Directors who suffer from a profound fear of the “F” word – Fundraising.