Posts Categorized: Fundraising

Can TV Help AmeriCorps?

March 25, 2014 Posted by Jessica Shofler in Fundraising, News

That’s just what AmeriCorps supporters are hoping. The future of the government program, which pays stipends to individuals spending up to a year helping nonprofits “move communities forward,” is in doubt. So eighteen nonprofits, including many that rely on AmeriCorps such as City Year and Teach for America, are joining a three year campaign to …

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Vendor Warning

Do you check references before you engage vendors for your organization’s fundraising events? If not, you should. The New York Times Haggler recently reminded us why. In a recent post, the Haggler investigated a company called CreditCardMachineRentals.com, which charged a nonprofit a wrongful late fee of $8,100 for returning borrowed credit card machines weeks late …

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Charitable Registration Just Got Easier

August 8, 2013 Posted by Jessica Shofler in Fundraising, News

Your nonprofit can cross one item of its to-do list. As of September 2013, Arizona will become of the few states without a charitable registration requirement. Arizona Governor Janice Brewer signed into law last month legislation repealing the requirement for charities to register in the state prior to soliciting donations. The Governor signed the bill …

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Another View on Nonprofit Effectiveness

July 18, 2013 Posted by Jessica Shofler in Accountability, Board, Fundraising, News

Has all the recent news about how to measure nonprofit effectiveness left your charity confused? The Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation, a national association of charities and their direct marketers, thinks it has the answer – a set of fundraising principles. The Federation based these principles on how it believes “legitimate” charities conduct fundraising. It …

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How do You Measure a Nonprofit's Effectiveness?

Earlier this week, we blogged about a letter from three prominent organizations strongly refuting the use of overhead costs to measure a nonprofit’s effectiveness. But, in seemingly direct contradiction to this letter, a new Oregon law requires that nonprofits spend no less than 30% of their total annual expenses on charitable programs. Worst of all, …

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Nonprofit Grading System Based on Overhead Cost a Thing of the Past?

June 17, 2013 Posted by Jessica Shofler in Fundraising, News

Is looking at a nonprofit’s overhead costs a good measure of its effectiveness? The leaders of three leading sources of nonprofit information – GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and BBB Wise Giving Alliance – recently wrote an open letter answering this question with a resounding NO. The letter reasons that focusing solely or predominantly on overhead(the expenses …

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