Category Archives for Opinion


Treat donors as shareholders to frame the major gifts equation

Treat donors as shareholders to frame the major gifts equation around an investment analogy to develop a loyal base of givers.  Mr. Shaw has picked up on another aspect of this concept in his  article. Here is an opinion piece that we thought worthy of sharing. We might add two additional points:  1) considering donors […]

Everything Old is New Again in Fundraising

Everything Old is New Again in the fundraising industry.  We appreciate the perspective that Jay Frost expresses in this article, as he strikes a rational balance between respect for our industry’s well-established best practices with the explosion and exuberance for fundraising with new social media techniques. Everything Old  is New Again by Jay Frost New […]

Become A Better Listener by Maintaining Your Curiosity

Want to become a better listener? We found some sage advice in this article from Andrew Olsen (spotted on LinkedIn) that listening is in fact one of the most important skills that fund raisers must develop. We’d argue that fund raisers need to first maintain a genuine curiosity about people and what their interests are to […]

About High Fundraising Costs: It’s Complicated

The following editorial about high fundraising costs appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.  Excellent topic.  On a related issue and another one of our pet peeves is the nonprofit executive that suggests 100% of a donors gift will go directly to programs. . . . July 8, 2013 About High Fundraising Costs: It’s Complicated By […]