In early January, Convio asked a group of nonprofit technology bloggers to suggest New Year’s resolutions for nonprofits (TechSoup Blog was one of the participants). In addition, they asked people to post resolutions on Convio’s Connection Café blog. Subsequently, they reviewed the resolutions, identified the main topic areas, and created a Resolutions Guide. The guide [...]

Tags: Databases, IT Management, Online Fundraising, Social Media, Web 2.0

Jay Frost of ContactReporter.com (formerly of WealthID) has started a new blog that will track large individual gifts to all types of charities in the US and abroad: www.BigGifts.wordpress.com

Tags: Fundraising, Prospect Research

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently conducted an online discussion with Lorry I. Lokey, who has appeared on The Chronicle’s list of America’s top donors every year since 2000. Mr. Lokey responded to questions such as

What is the biggest mistake development officers make when first meeting a new prospect?
How could a small institution with [...]

Tags: Fundraising

The early-bird registration period for NTEN’s 2009 Nonprofit Technology Conference ends January 31.  I love the NTC.  Here’s what the NTEN folks have to say about it:

In addition to the scores of breakout sessions, the networking, camaraderie, and general nptech-related good times, noted author Clay Shirky will be the keynote speaker at the 2009 NTC, [...]

Tags: Consulting, Email Marketing, IT Management, Mobile Communications, Online Fundraising, Social Media, Web 2.0

M+R Strategic Services says that although the economy is down, online giving is up (as of November 2008). They looked at online giving for five nonprofit clients during September and October (Easter Seals, Habitat for Humanity International, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Oxfam America, and The Wilderness Society) and compared those results to the same [...]

Tags: Fundraising, Online Fundraising

SupportingAdvancement.com has published the results of their 2008 survey on how nonprofits are handling corporate matching gifts. The responses came primarily from post-secondary schools, but also included elementary schools, healthcare, museums, gardens, performing arts, and service organizations. The findings included:

Although 99% of respondents accept matching gifts, only 67% actively ask individual donors [...]

Tags: Advancement Services, Fundraising

Internet security firm F-Secure has estimated that more than 3.5 million computers have been infected with the Downadup worm, a malicious program. The worm, also known as Conficker, uses a major flaw that Microsoft patched in October to remotely compromise computers running unpatched versions of Windows.

Infected computers become members of a worldwide botnet. F-Secure predicts [...]

Tags: IT Management, Security, Viruses

Blackbaud has released a summary of early results from its analysis of 2008 online giving trends. The results come from 2,000 nonprofits using Blackbaud’s online fundraising tools. They’ve found:

Steady growth throughout the year. There was a slight decrease in online giving during the third quarter but online giving rebounded in the [...]

Tags: Fundraising, Online Fundraising

The Chronicle of Philanthropy held an online discussion on January 21, 2009 about how nonprofits can publicize their work. They described the agenda as:

Now, more than ever before, it is important that (nonprofits) communicate effectively with supporters, the news media, and their communities about the challenges they face and the good work [...]

Tags: Fundraising, Marketing, Online Fundraising

The Chronicle of Philanthropy is starting the year off with a list of trends they believe will affect fundraising in 2009. The trends they cite include lower estate taxes, low investment returns, the possibility of inflation, no minimum required withdrawal from individual retirement accounts, the impact of medical costs, and a push to lower [...]

Tags: Fundraising