Articles
Most Charities Met Fundraising Goals in 2010
“Two-Thirds of Surveyed Charities Report Fundraising Results Held Steady or Improved in 2010”, according to a recent Foundation Center Press Release.
A majority of charities surveyed saw their fundraising revenue remain stable or increase last year, with those investing in fundraising staff and infrastructure more likely to have seen improvement, a new survey from the Nonprofit Research Collaborative (NRC) finds.
Based on responses received from more than 1,800 organizations, the 2010 Nonprofit Fundraising Survey: Funds Raised in 2010 Compared with 2009 (47 pages, PDF) asked about the percentage of organizations that reached their campaign goals and the percentage that saw their fundraising revenues increase year over year.
Economic Recession Continues to Hit Nonprofits Hard
Three years after the beginning of the Great Recession, it is common belief that the worst of the crisis is over; tell that to nonprofits.
According to the latest study by the Nonprofit Finance Fund, 87% of nonprofits said that tough economic times still impact the way their organizations are run. So why, if the economy is getting better, are non-profits still feeling the sting of the recession? One reason seems to be an increasing demand for their services. With the high unemployment rate, general poverty, and government cuts (all resulting from the recession), more people are leaning on NPOs to help them then ever before.
Nonprofits Struggle to Meet Fast-Climbing Demand for Services
87% of Nonprofits Say, "The Recession Has Not Ended"
America's nonprofits are expecting 2011 to be another tough year for their organizations, and for the people they serve, according to a survey released today by Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF), with support from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. The survey of more than 1,900 nonprofit leaders in markets nationwide found that while there are some signs of hope, many nonprofits are straining under year-after-year increases in the demand for services.
2010 Giving Overview
In October 2010, GuideStar joined forces with the National Center for Charitable Statistics (NCCS), the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, Blackbaud, and the Foundation Center to create the National Research Collaborative and conduct an end-of-year fundraising survey. Representatives of 2,356 public charities and 163 private foundations took the survey online between October 19 and November 3, 2010.
According to the survey results, the worst may be over.
Managing Change
What is change management? A well-defined, comprehensive process, emphasizing human resources, programs, policies and procedures, that enable an entity to achieve stated, usually long-term goals.
Change management encourages creative thinking, includes diverse perspectives, and involves a large body of stakeholders things that are common to arts organizations.
Change management also incorporates new ways of thinking for arts organizations, such as documenting and evaluating objectives, goals, outcomes, responsibilities, and Action steps; and encourages organization-wide communication.
Effective Delegation
The hallmark of good supervision is effective delegation. Delegation is when supervisors give responsibility and authority to subordinates to complete a task, and let the subordinates figure out how the task can be accomplished.
Effective delegation develops people who are ultimately more fulfilled and productive. Managers become more fulfilled and productive themselves as they learn to count on their staffs and are freed up to attend to more strategic issues.
Chosing A Consultant
Why hire a consultant? There are many reasons:
1. To supplement staff time.
Hiring a consultant is particularly appropriate when the project is a nonrecurring one (e.g., a new comp plan or zoning ordinance). If the project will carry over many years or is a continuous one, expanding staff is a better option.
2. To supplement staff expertise.
Some tasks, because they occur so infrequently, call for special skills that cannot be learned quickly or easily by staff (e.g., rewriting a zoning ordinance, preparing site studies for waste disposal sites).
