BP Sea Otter Habitat at the Aquarium of the Pacific
Consider the dilemma now faced by the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA. The aquarium has permanently named an organizational asset (its Sea Otter Habitat) in recognition of BP Resources’ philanthropy…an alignment that now is, well, regrettable. Globe and Mail columnist Paul Dunn considers the quandary that charities like the Aquarium face when their high visibility patrons fall from public favour. Click here for his commentary.
Hot off the presses, Imagine Canada’s Sector Monitor reveals some impressive statistics around the resourcefulness of progressive-thinking charitable organizations.
Of the 1,224 organizations surveyed, an overall 42% collaborated with another organization to reduce expenses. The statistic was as high as 49% for organizations reporting a high degree of financial stress. (more…)
Bloom’s Carolyn Marshall was among the sector experts who contributed knowledge and perspective to Elisa Birnbaum’s “Fundraising Checkup” on Charity Village today. In addition to providing a glimpse into fundraisers’ current experiences, the article provides an important look at what’s ahead for non-profits that are in the fundraising business.
This June Canada Revenue Agency published a comprehensive and directive set of recommendations to charities, which define acceptable (and unacceptable) fundraising practices and reporting activities. The document, referred to as the fundraising “Guidance” by CRA, defines prohibited fundraising conduct, cost ratios, disclosure requirements and other critical compliance information for charities.
During this week’s AFP Congress in Toronto, expert charity lawyer Mark Blumberg summarized and simplified the CRA Guidance so that the lay staff person and volunteer board member can understand the standards. And he shared a recent attitudinal survey of the level of trust that Canadians have in charities’ fundraising practices … which provided a fascinating backdrop and direct tie-in to many of the elements of the CRA Guidance.
The full presentation on the Guidance and the attitudinal data is available on his site. By the way, Mark is conducting more presentations on interpreting the Guidance via webinars in the next two weeks….you can find out more at CLIP.
Scams and shams have been around for thousands of years. One of the oldest stories of ”identity theft” comes from the Bible, with Jacob dressing in sheepskin in order to impersonate his brother Esau and fool their blind father.
Today, with the unprecedented growth of the internet and the recent explosion of Web 2.0, stories of scams and shams are a daily occurance. Most recently, the popular social networking site, Facebook, has been the subject of several stories detailing how unsuspecting subscribers have been duped by dishonesty. Read more about the scams, and how you can protect yourself, here:
Following a brief hiatus to revamp the Bloom blog and web site, we’re pleased to be back. I hope you like the new look and better organization of our content. Carolyn and I will resume posting news and commentary on the non profit world (giving, sector news, tools and tips) on a more regular basis. Don’t forget to sign up for email updates, post comments or promote your organization’s fundraising news and events on the site. And check out the revolving tag cloud on the site’s pages — it provides a quick link to all the subject matter within the blog and site. Its great to be back in the wired world! Anne
I monitor and occasionally participate in forum discussions by professional fundraisers. Questions and ideas flow fast and furious as they seek solutions to everyday issues. Today it finally dawned on me how many professional fundraisers are seeking advice on how to “cultivate” and re-engage their donor stakeholders…particularly first time donors.
A savvy fellow in the US commented on the fact that at his institution, every first time donor gets a personal (yes, personal) letter from the President of his university, along with a “welcome” package that talks about the impact of giving and the major initiatives being led at the university.
How personal! And no, there is no monetary prequalifier that implies some donors get a personal letter from the President, and some don’t. They all do!
His observation led to a volley of e-commentary from many professionals who endeavor to do the same thing at their organizations, but can’t get their presidents’ attention and time to actually SIGN the letters.
Say what?
Is it just me, or is this a no-brainer? How better to connect the institution you lead (and you as a leader) to the people whose donations help you lead? Calling all presidents (executive directors, whatever you are called as the Captain of Your Ship)…sign the letters!
Despite the inevitable controversy over the fact that Prime Minister Harper made another round of Senate appointments in the first place, Ogilvie is a brilliant choice.
I had the privilege of working on Dr. Ogilvie’s team for 7 years at Acadia. He transformed the learning environment with the Acadia Advantage program, through a unique combination of fearlessness and progressive thinking. And under his leadership, the Irving family propelled Acadia’s environment focus by building the KC Irving Centre, Harriett Irving Botanical Gardens and Irving Academy for the Environment.
Dr. Ogilvie will bring those qualities to the Senate. He’s not a man to rest on his laurels. Here’s the scoop.
For those among us who cheerlead for the little guys…those smaller non profits that generally have a harder time in raising money…check out this quick article.
Kudos to the four man shop at non profit Critical Exposure for taking a page out of the Obama book and leveraging their networks through technology, for fundraising. They proved that tenacity and innovation can win the day.
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