Top Ten Things Fundraisers Should Monitor

The more diversified your fundraising mix gets, the more attention you need to pay to calculating the return on investment associated with each element of your overall strategy. You might be spending money on direct marketing and perhaps multiple channels – mail, online, major gifts again, with multiple tactics, from events to one-on-one cultivation, foundations, planned giving, cause-marketing, canvassing, local/chapter fundraising, whatever. How accurately can you assign full and true costs to each of these activities? If you can, what do the cost trends look like? Most importantly, how do these costs relate to actual revenue produced – what is your return on your marketing investment (ROI)?

Spotlight

Canadian Global Affairs Institute

The Canadian Global Affairs Institute is Canada’s most credible source of expertise on global affairs. The work of our researchers, fellows and advisors sparks impassioned nation-wide discussions and debates that are designed to help Canadians better understand their role on the world stage. Established in 2000 and based in Calgary and Ottawa, the Canadian Global Affairs Institute is a charitable, independent, non-partisan, research institute and registered charity, which comments repeatedly in the media and publishes extensively on defence, diplomacy, trade, resources, and development. The Institute’s policy research and education materials are authored by former practitioners and academics throughout Canada and abroad. Program advice comes from a multi-disciplinary council and governance is provided by an experienced board.

OTHER ARTICLES
Fundraising

Proactive Asset Maintenance for Nonprofits

Article | July 15, 2022

For small nonprofits struggling to keep pace with day-to-day work, planning ahead can seem like a luxury. Especially when it comes to IT asset maintenance: If everything is functioning well right now, why mess with it? But a little work now can save a lot of work in the future. It can also prevent downtime, security incidents, and other issues that can hurt your organization.

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Nonprofit Management

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Nonprofits: What You Need to Know

Article | July 29, 2022

Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Nonprofits is a name you're likely to hear very frequently in the nonprofit tech space over the next several years. As Microsoft's own cloud-based CRM platform, Dynamics for Nonprofits offers a new technology option for organizations of all sizes. If you're already using a range of Microsoft products (or have heard of Microsoft's generous Tech for Social Impact initiative) but haven't yet heard of Dynamics, you're definitely going to want to have it on your radar.

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Nonprofit Management

Non-Profits Cannot Afford to Ignore These Business Practices

Article | July 13, 2022

While not-for-profit organizations have different missions and objectives than for-profit businesses, both need the appropriate management team and operational procedures to operate and develop. Unfortunately, maintaining good business processes can be problematic in the not-for-profit sector due to funding, staffing, and management resource limitations, which prevent companies from attaining their full potential. Through this article, you can learn about business tactics that would help build a strong foundation and structure for your non-profit organization to reach its full potential. Management and Board Supervision Management and its governing board must understand their roles, responsibilities, and authority. The rules, processes, and board training materials of the not-for-profit should formally reflect this knowledge. Board members need to be trained and made aware of their duties. Depending on the size of the organization and the backgrounds of its board members, the training's regularity and formality will probably change. CPA firms and other organizations offer resources and instruction on good board procedures. The training should include organization-specific topics, including the entity's programs, activities, mission and philosophy, strategy, finances, and the board's relationships with the organization and its employees. Management of Finance and Cash Flow For any firm, having strong finances is essential. The majority of not-for-profit organizations create annual budgets, but many fail to take into account setting up operating reserves or keeping track of and anticipating unrestricted net assets and cash flows. A formal operational reserve policy that outlines guidelines for how and when the reserves can be used as well as how they are funded should exist and be authorized by the board. Implementing Technology Investment in IT ought to be included in the overall strategy. For not-for-profit organizations, there are numerous options for systems and software, including cloud-based resources, in areas including general accounting, donor administration, record retention, and management reporting. Monthly-fee subscriptions could offer hosting, better functionality at a reduced price, and little IT support. The market for cloud-based services has improved in recent years, offering higher quality at significantly lower prices. In addition, many cloud service providers give discounts to not-for-profit organizations. Adhering to these above-mentioned business tactics would undoubtedly help your non-profit organization be structurally sound with a solid foundation. However, to develop a value proposition and new revenue sources, leadership must be able to view a not-for-profit company differently.

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Nonprofits Have The Tools To Operate Remotely, But What Should They Work On?

Article | April 15, 2020

Last week we released an article outlining a list of software that can make working from home as painless as possible. The goal of that blog, and all others we post, is to share our insights to hopefully provide value for nonprofits. A few days after writing the post, I started thinking about organizations like Habitat for Humanity and the Red Cross. Zoom doesn’t seem very helpful if you’re trying to collect blood donations or construct new homes.

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Spotlight

Canadian Global Affairs Institute

The Canadian Global Affairs Institute is Canada’s most credible source of expertise on global affairs. The work of our researchers, fellows and advisors sparks impassioned nation-wide discussions and debates that are designed to help Canadians better understand their role on the world stage. Established in 2000 and based in Calgary and Ottawa, the Canadian Global Affairs Institute is a charitable, independent, non-partisan, research institute and registered charity, which comments repeatedly in the media and publishes extensively on defence, diplomacy, trade, resources, and development. The Institute’s policy research and education materials are authored by former practitioners and academics throughout Canada and abroad. Program advice comes from a multi-disciplinary council and governance is provided by an experienced board.

Related News

Nonprofit Technology

Bloomerang Launches New Dashboard and User Interface Updates to Improve Fundraisers' Productivity

Bloomerang | June 27, 2022

Bloomerang, the complete donor management solution for thousands of small and medium-sized nonprofits, announced the availability of a new user-centric dashboard to improve fundraisers' day-to-day productivity and monitor fundraising campaign performance and overall organizational health. In addition to the refreshed dashboard, Bloomerang's user interface (UI) updates seek to enhance accessibility via improved screen reader support, reduced animated movements, increased readability and scannability, revised colors and visualizations to compensate for red-green colorblindness, and more. Fundraisers can rely on Bloomerang to provide the information they need to take the next best actions and have a full picture of their organization's data and fundraising health–all from one easily accessible location. These latest updates help customers make the most of their precious resources–so they can spend more time on their mission and fundraising programs. We're excited to deliver a more intuitive information hierarchy, simplified data access and management, and improved accessibility. Our goal is to continuously drive innovation and lay the groundwork for more customization in the future, while staying focused on ease of use and simplicity of experience for the nonprofits we have the privilege to serve." Tammy Hammond, Bloomerang's Chief Product Officer The new dashboard in Bloomerang includes visual snapshots of: Recent constituents with a new constituent quick-add button Amount raised by week, month, and fiscal year Donor retention rate with customization capabilities Recommended first-time donor call list Most recent reports Fundraising campaign goals and progress tracking, including customizable date ranges Active tasks assigned to you and your team In addition to the new fundraising dashboard, Bloomerang's UI accessibility updates include: Logo and font update to match Bloomerang's new visual identity Less scrolling and a brighter look with a full-screen width and white background Better iconography with red-green colorblind accessible icons, improved labels and wording, and highlighted navigation tabs Search functionality for information stored in the database is accessible on any page Fewer clicks to access needed information and fundraising functionality save time and improve productivity for fundraisers Michelle Gorham, Chief Advancement Officer for YMCA of Rock River Valley has benefited from clearer insights into their donor data through the use of Bloomerang's fundraising dashboard, UI updates, and functionality. The availability and organization of this data has directly improved their productivity and communication segmentation. "Most importantly we know our donor retention which is not something we knew before. I also now have information about key interests of our most generous donors and have the ability to create reports that can show me all the donors who have said they care about 'academic programs' or 'camp' or 'disease prevention programming' so that we can engage in important conversations with them." This latest release supports Bloomerang's vision to deliver the donor management and fundraising platform of the future. Earlier this year, Bloomerang was named a "Best Place to Work in Indiana" in 2022, and launched a new brand identity to better articulate the value and services offered to the nonprofit community. Bloomerang's suite of online fundraising tools also strengthens nonprofits' ability to cultivate deeper relationships with their donors and increase the impact of their fundraising campaigns. About Bloomerang Indianapolis-based Bloomerang is the complete donor management solution that helps thousands of small and medium-sized nonprofits deliver a better giving experience and create stable, thriving organizations. Combining robust, simple-to-use technology with people-powered support and training, Bloomerang empowers nonprofits to work efficiently, improve their donor relationships and grow their donor bases. With Bloomerang, nonprofit professionals love their work and have another teammate in the cause.

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Fundraising

Prospect Lists Powered by AI Are Now Available From iWave

iWave | June 03, 2022

According to iWave, the industry's top-rated fundraising intelligence product, Prospect Lists is a new tool that reimagines prospecting in the nonprofit arena. The company's unique approach helps development teams find more potential donors in less time, raise more money, and improve the quality of leads along the donor funnel. Prospect identification and certification are two of the most difficult tasks faced by fundraisers. Identifying good-fit prospective donors is a time-consuming, manual procedure fraught with guesswork and missed possibilities. In donor prospecting, poor data is a big concern since it promotes bad leads and produces unsatisfactory outcomes. Development teams know that the key to a healthy prospect pipeline is to start with a high-quality list of potential contributors who are interested in supporting their purpose. iWave, on the other hand, tailors its strategy to suit all types of businesses and missions, whilst other solutions take a one-size-fits-all approach to developing prospect lists. At iWave, we are focused on developing cutting-edge solutions that enable nonprofits to build a better world, faster.” Ross further added, "With the launch of Prospect Lists, we're putting the power of AI and big data behind every fundraising team and reimagining one of the most important steps in the donor funnel. Having the ability to identify strong donor candidates means that development teams can prioritize their efforts and spend less time researching and more time cultivating the right prospects." Ross Beattie, President and CEO at iWave iWave's AI-powered platform analyzes billions of charitable and wealth indicators to find people who are a good fit for NGOs and reveals key insights that allow them to respond quickly. Because iWave is linked to a wide range of sources of financial, charitable, and biographical data, fundraising professionals have access to all the information they need to get a full picture of their prospects, including accurate contact information. This functionality is in addition to other recent iWave advancements that have established iWave as the industry's most advanced fundraising intelligence platform. Users can establish Smart Notifications to automatically monitor target potential donors for new intelligence and receive real-time alerts once a prospect list has been created, ensuring that choices and actions are based on the most up-to-date and correct information. Users can also use iWave Connections to find people who are connected to their prospects and expand their network.

Read More

Nonprofit Technology

GolfStatus and Dormie Network Launch "Play It Forward" Campaign

GolfStatus | June 02, 2022

GolfStatus, the leading technology platform for nonprofit and charity golf fundraisers, is teaming up with its giving partners at Dormie Network and Dormie Network Foundation for the Play It Forward campaign to give back to organizations that are using golf to make an impact. Now in its second year, the campaign is a unique opportunity to "play" it forward. Individuals nominate a golf fundraiser to receive a $10,000 donation and have the chance to win a one-year honorary membership to Dormie Network, a national network of private golf clubs, plus a $10,000 credit toward onsite golf and lodging. From small, local fundraisers to massive charity tournaments, golf is a great way to bring people together in support of a cause. Play It Forward celebrates organizations golfing for good and doing incredible work in their communities and beyond." Brian Schenk, Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Dormie Network Foundation The 2021 Play It Forward nonprofit winner was the Cameron Steinberg Foundation's inaugural golf fundraiser, which was nominated by Dr. Michael Gaies. The Foundation honors the life of Cameron Steinberg, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tragically passed away at just two months old. Cami's parents, Mel and Sam, created the Foundation to help families affected by congenital heart disease. The $10,000 donation was made to the Foundation's second annual golf tournament, held May 23, 2022. The event's second year utilized GolfStatus's golf event management platform—which is available at no cost to qualifying nonprofit organizations through the Golf for Good program—and more than doubled the dollars raised from its first year. The giveaway launched May 31 and nominations will be accepted through July 4. Winners will be announced via press release and on GolfStatus's and Dormie Network's social media channels in August. About GolfStatus GolfStatus is golf's premier tournament management solution and golfer engagement platform. Its full-service tournament management software streamlines outings from start to finish, yielding professional, high-end events that add value for golfers, sponsors, and golf facilities. Through GolfStatus.org, we make our powerful technology accessible to nonprofits to streamline fundraisers and help charitable organizations engage more supporters, raise more mission-critical funds, drive impact, and do more good. About Dormie Network and Dormie Network Foundation Dormie Network is a national network of private destination golf clubs that includes ArborLinks in Nebraska City, Nebraska; Ballyhack Golf Club in Roanoke, Virginia; Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas; Dormie Club in West End, North Carolina; Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey; Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana; and a seventh course built from the ground up in the Nebraska Sandhills, with a planned opening of 2024. Each offers a premier golf experience in a relaxing and accommodating environment ideal for business or leisure. The Dormie Network Foundation supports nonprofits through in-kind donations and direct cash grants, and seeks to build long-term relationships with its nonprofit partners to help them raise the bar on fundraising opportunities.

Read More

Nonprofit Technology

Bloomerang Launches New Dashboard and User Interface Updates to Improve Fundraisers' Productivity

Bloomerang | June 27, 2022

Bloomerang, the complete donor management solution for thousands of small and medium-sized nonprofits, announced the availability of a new user-centric dashboard to improve fundraisers' day-to-day productivity and monitor fundraising campaign performance and overall organizational health. In addition to the refreshed dashboard, Bloomerang's user interface (UI) updates seek to enhance accessibility via improved screen reader support, reduced animated movements, increased readability and scannability, revised colors and visualizations to compensate for red-green colorblindness, and more. Fundraisers can rely on Bloomerang to provide the information they need to take the next best actions and have a full picture of their organization's data and fundraising health–all from one easily accessible location. These latest updates help customers make the most of their precious resources–so they can spend more time on their mission and fundraising programs. We're excited to deliver a more intuitive information hierarchy, simplified data access and management, and improved accessibility. Our goal is to continuously drive innovation and lay the groundwork for more customization in the future, while staying focused on ease of use and simplicity of experience for the nonprofits we have the privilege to serve." Tammy Hammond, Bloomerang's Chief Product Officer The new dashboard in Bloomerang includes visual snapshots of: Recent constituents with a new constituent quick-add button Amount raised by week, month, and fiscal year Donor retention rate with customization capabilities Recommended first-time donor call list Most recent reports Fundraising campaign goals and progress tracking, including customizable date ranges Active tasks assigned to you and your team In addition to the new fundraising dashboard, Bloomerang's UI accessibility updates include: Logo and font update to match Bloomerang's new visual identity Less scrolling and a brighter look with a full-screen width and white background Better iconography with red-green colorblind accessible icons, improved labels and wording, and highlighted navigation tabs Search functionality for information stored in the database is accessible on any page Fewer clicks to access needed information and fundraising functionality save time and improve productivity for fundraisers Michelle Gorham, Chief Advancement Officer for YMCA of Rock River Valley has benefited from clearer insights into their donor data through the use of Bloomerang's fundraising dashboard, UI updates, and functionality. The availability and organization of this data has directly improved their productivity and communication segmentation. "Most importantly we know our donor retention which is not something we knew before. I also now have information about key interests of our most generous donors and have the ability to create reports that can show me all the donors who have said they care about 'academic programs' or 'camp' or 'disease prevention programming' so that we can engage in important conversations with them." This latest release supports Bloomerang's vision to deliver the donor management and fundraising platform of the future. Earlier this year, Bloomerang was named a "Best Place to Work in Indiana" in 2022, and launched a new brand identity to better articulate the value and services offered to the nonprofit community. Bloomerang's suite of online fundraising tools also strengthens nonprofits' ability to cultivate deeper relationships with their donors and increase the impact of their fundraising campaigns. About Bloomerang Indianapolis-based Bloomerang is the complete donor management solution that helps thousands of small and medium-sized nonprofits deliver a better giving experience and create stable, thriving organizations. Combining robust, simple-to-use technology with people-powered support and training, Bloomerang empowers nonprofits to work efficiently, improve their donor relationships and grow their donor bases. With Bloomerang, nonprofit professionals love their work and have another teammate in the cause.

Read More

Fundraising

Prospect Lists Powered by AI Are Now Available From iWave

iWave | June 03, 2022

According to iWave, the industry's top-rated fundraising intelligence product, Prospect Lists is a new tool that reimagines prospecting in the nonprofit arena. The company's unique approach helps development teams find more potential donors in less time, raise more money, and improve the quality of leads along the donor funnel. Prospect identification and certification are two of the most difficult tasks faced by fundraisers. Identifying good-fit prospective donors is a time-consuming, manual procedure fraught with guesswork and missed possibilities. In donor prospecting, poor data is a big concern since it promotes bad leads and produces unsatisfactory outcomes. Development teams know that the key to a healthy prospect pipeline is to start with a high-quality list of potential contributors who are interested in supporting their purpose. iWave, on the other hand, tailors its strategy to suit all types of businesses and missions, whilst other solutions take a one-size-fits-all approach to developing prospect lists. At iWave, we are focused on developing cutting-edge solutions that enable nonprofits to build a better world, faster.” Ross further added, "With the launch of Prospect Lists, we're putting the power of AI and big data behind every fundraising team and reimagining one of the most important steps in the donor funnel. Having the ability to identify strong donor candidates means that development teams can prioritize their efforts and spend less time researching and more time cultivating the right prospects." Ross Beattie, President and CEO at iWave iWave's AI-powered platform analyzes billions of charitable and wealth indicators to find people who are a good fit for NGOs and reveals key insights that allow them to respond quickly. Because iWave is linked to a wide range of sources of financial, charitable, and biographical data, fundraising professionals have access to all the information they need to get a full picture of their prospects, including accurate contact information. This functionality is in addition to other recent iWave advancements that have established iWave as the industry's most advanced fundraising intelligence platform. Users can establish Smart Notifications to automatically monitor target potential donors for new intelligence and receive real-time alerts once a prospect list has been created, ensuring that choices and actions are based on the most up-to-date and correct information. Users can also use iWave Connections to find people who are connected to their prospects and expand their network.

Read More

Nonprofit Technology

GolfStatus and Dormie Network Launch "Play It Forward" Campaign

GolfStatus | June 02, 2022

GolfStatus, the leading technology platform for nonprofit and charity golf fundraisers, is teaming up with its giving partners at Dormie Network and Dormie Network Foundation for the Play It Forward campaign to give back to organizations that are using golf to make an impact. Now in its second year, the campaign is a unique opportunity to "play" it forward. Individuals nominate a golf fundraiser to receive a $10,000 donation and have the chance to win a one-year honorary membership to Dormie Network, a national network of private golf clubs, plus a $10,000 credit toward onsite golf and lodging. From small, local fundraisers to massive charity tournaments, golf is a great way to bring people together in support of a cause. Play It Forward celebrates organizations golfing for good and doing incredible work in their communities and beyond." Brian Schenk, Chief Philanthropy Officer at the Dormie Network Foundation The 2021 Play It Forward nonprofit winner was the Cameron Steinberg Foundation's inaugural golf fundraiser, which was nominated by Dr. Michael Gaies. The Foundation honors the life of Cameron Steinberg, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome and tragically passed away at just two months old. Cami's parents, Mel and Sam, created the Foundation to help families affected by congenital heart disease. The $10,000 donation was made to the Foundation's second annual golf tournament, held May 23, 2022. The event's second year utilized GolfStatus's golf event management platform—which is available at no cost to qualifying nonprofit organizations through the Golf for Good program—and more than doubled the dollars raised from its first year. The giveaway launched May 31 and nominations will be accepted through July 4. Winners will be announced via press release and on GolfStatus's and Dormie Network's social media channels in August. About GolfStatus GolfStatus is golf's premier tournament management solution and golfer engagement platform. Its full-service tournament management software streamlines outings from start to finish, yielding professional, high-end events that add value for golfers, sponsors, and golf facilities. Through GolfStatus.org, we make our powerful technology accessible to nonprofits to streamline fundraisers and help charitable organizations engage more supporters, raise more mission-critical funds, drive impact, and do more good. About Dormie Network and Dormie Network Foundation Dormie Network is a national network of private destination golf clubs that includes ArborLinks in Nebraska City, Nebraska; Ballyhack Golf Club in Roanoke, Virginia; Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio, Texas; Dormie Club in West End, North Carolina; Hidden Creek Golf Club in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey; Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana; and a seventh course built from the ground up in the Nebraska Sandhills, with a planned opening of 2024. Each offers a premier golf experience in a relaxing and accommodating environment ideal for business or leisure. The Dormie Network Foundation supports nonprofits through in-kind donations and direct cash grants, and seeks to build long-term relationships with its nonprofit partners to help them raise the bar on fundraising opportunities.

Read More

Events