Tips on Advanced Fundraising
Philanthropy Operations: What Is It, and Why Is It Important?
By: Laurence A. Pagnoni What the heck is Philanthropy Operations, and why is it important? The fundraising positions of Director of Development or Chief Development Officer are familiar, but what do Directors of Philanthropic Operations (DPOs or Ops. Dir.) do? And why is the function less well known? (Those of you in higher education may know the function as “Advancement Services.”) A focus on Philanthropic Operations becomes necessary as
Five Ways to Make the Case for Advancement Operations
By Josh Birkholz How do you make the case for non-frontline roles? Leaders are more likely to interact and prioritize the frontline officers, but a balance must be met to maximize ROI. Here are five ways to make the case for organizational support staff. Making the case for program investment and seeing the resulting growth in giving may be among my favorite roles as a fundraising consultant these past
How Much Time Should It Take To Close a Major Gift?
How much time should it take to close a major gift? The short answer is less time than you think. You see, I have observed that fundraisers spend far too long cultivating donors. Cultivation can even mask procrastinating over making the ask! I hear this from fundraisers quite frequently: “I don’t feel like it’s the right time to ask this person for support. I am scared they will say ‘no,’
Six Steps To Setting The Right Fundraising Goal
By Laurence A. Pagnoni, MPA Knowing how much revenue you’re raising is essential. It seems obvious doesn’t it? Yet many fundraisers don’t know how to go about setting the right goal. There’s often silence whenever I ask a Chief Development Officer or the CEO, “How much revenue are you seeking to raise?” Recently, Jane, a mid-career Development Director, was honest with me: “That’s a seemingly simple question, she said,
Donor Advised Funds: Why Community Foundations Should Endorse the ACE Act
By Alan Cantor Watch a recent in-depth LAPA webinar on the subject of Donor-Advised Funds Some people simply can’t take “yes” for an answer. How else can one explain how some community foundation leaders rejected the thoughtful set of reforms contained in the Accelerating Charitable Efforts (ACE) Act — a series of measures to reform Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) that would actually serve community foundations well? For years, the lobbying
The Value of a Fundraiser
By: Roger Craver Almost every sector of the economy is now facing the issue of how many employees will actually return vs. how many will simply opt for greener pastures. If the financial meltdown of 2008 was the Great Recession, will post-pandemic 2021 turn out to be the Great Resignation? Virtually every part of the nonprofit sector – from higher ed, to healthcare, to advocacy and social benefit organizations –