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Apr
30
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No One Needs a Will.
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Apr
26
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Taking the Social Media Pulse on CampusJust returned from a visit to a university in New England. Had an interesting conversation with their e-marketing guru. I asked about using social media to promote their foundation. 
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Apr
23
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One…I recently made a presentation at the Phoenix Planned Giving Council. What a great group of people! Carrie Kinnear passed out this poem at the end titled…
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Apr
07
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Forget Social Media
We ran a similar article two years ago… and our opinion has not changed.
Few non-profits succeed with Facebook. Why? Because they neglect the time and effort needed to do it right.
Successful social networking requires:
Circular promotions from all venues
Constant day-to-day monitoring
Publications to your Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn sites
Embracing the online social networking culture
Cultivating participation
Creating engagement activities
This is work. Even the miraculous Internet will not give you something for nothing (that’s why Viagra spammers are dying). And this is why you must approach Facebook marketing with a results-based mindset. If you can’t or won’t measure ROI, it’s not going to work.
Now, we are not opposed to social media — so hold all hate mail. But don’t Facebook due to peer pressure. Because a little bit of this and a little bit of that and hopping from this year’s hype and hoopla to the next will distract you from venues that are already getting you results.
All the followers in the world will jump on the social networking bandwagon with little or no evaluation and waste all kinds of dollars and time. The leaders will evaluate it and execute it if they feel it serves their interests. Or, they will move on to what gets results. The real question is, are you a leader or a follower?
Another thing to take into account is: Is your non profit a good fit for social media? One of our clients has over 600,000 followers. It’s a women’s breast cancer organization. Breast cancer affects the woman, husband, children and friends. Such an organization is a perfect fit as there are emotions involved. Everyone is affected and everyone cares. Should I also add that this organization has someone dedicated to social media 48 hours a week? That is, he does nothing but focus on social media.
Social media is like any other marketing vector. It’s serious work and requires real effort. So ignore peer pressure and do it if you have commitment and resources to do it right.
We ran a similar article two years ago… and our opinion has not changed. Few non-profits succeed with Facebook or social media. Why? Because they neglect the time and effort needed to do it right. Read more »
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Mar
22
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Donor Advised Funds: A Pleasant OpportunityBy Brian Sagrestano, JD, CFRE Over the last several years, there has been an explosion in the popularity of donor-advised funds, with over $37.43 billion held in such funds at the end of 2011. While the figures are not yet available for 2012, the large, national Donor-Advised Funds such as Vanguard Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust, Fidelity Charitable Gift Fund and Schwab Charitable reported dramatic increases in donations at year-end due to fears about potential future limitations on the deductibility of charitable gifts. Donor-Advised Funds are a charitable giving vehicle that allow donors to make a charitable gift to the sponsoring public charity now, and later advise that charity to make distributions to other charities in the future. They are often seen as a replacement for, or cheaper alternative to, family foundations. In the typical case, the donor sets up a Donor-Advised Fund with the sponsoring charity, making gifts as the donor sees fit. Over time, the donor then requests (”advises”) that the sponsoring charity make distributions to other charities of the donor’s choice. When the donor passes away,
With the increase in overall assets in these funds, assets that donors have already allocated to charity, this is an additional pool of resources your donors can use to make a planned gift to your organization. By naming your nonprofit as the final beneficiary of the Donor-Advised Fund, you could receive substantial benefits.
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Jan
30
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Financial Advisors – “Do You Catch the Dream?”Tell the truth – does Charitable Planning even show up on your radar? It should. With Charitable Planning, you can be a facilitator for good and generate revenue at the same time.
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Jan
24
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Don’t Keep Them Bottled Up! Gifts of Appreciated Stuff Are Much AppreciatedBy Viken Mikaelian Some of you who never read Forbes Magazine might think it’s just a stuffy business periodical, but how stuffy can a magazine really be when it runs an article celebrating “investment-grade” Scotch whiskey, as Forbes recently did? Sounds whimsical, but it’s for real. And with dollar values per fifth reaching five and six figures, what nonprofit wouldn’t appreciate a gift of such a very special bottle of booze? Read more »
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Jan
17
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It’s Not Over When It’s Over!
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Jan
07
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Beneficiary Designations?
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Jan
02
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The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
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