by Eddie Thompson | Aug 13, 2015 | Charitable Estate Planning, Donor Communications
In a previous post I wrote about Benjamin Franklin’s 200-year endowments to the cities of Philadelphia and Boston. His testamentary gift was made for the express purpose of helping young men establish themselves by funding apprenticeships. Like so many planned gifts,...
by Eddie Thompson | Jun 11, 2015 | Donor Communications
Very few set out with the career goal of becoming fundraisers. Historically, nonprofit executives (including fundraisers) emerged from the ranks of financial professionals, business leaders, academic faculty, or the nonprofit’s most experienced program staff. In the...
by Eddie Thompson | Mar 3, 2015 | Donor Communications
Creating a positive culture of accountability is not something accomplished by decree, i.e., the values we “decided” to adopt at a recent strategic planning meeting. Cultural values develop through time, particularly over difficult times. Leaders who stick to their...
by Eddie Thompson | Aug 14, 2014 | Donor Communications
Over the last decade there’s been a lot of emphasis on quantifying and measuring the results of charitable gifts. More and more donors view gifts to a nonprofit as social investments and evaluate their giving decisions in terms of the ROI (return on investment)....
by Eddie Thompson | Jul 25, 2014 | Donor Communications
A couple of years ago I published two articles on strategic and tactical planning and continue to be surprised at how those posts from 2012 continue to show up on the list of top reads. So here’s one more thought about the strategy-tactic idea and how it relates to...
by Eddie Thompson | Jan 16, 2014 | Donor Communications
What you as a nonprofit executive do in December and January each year is a “tell”—that is, it reveals a lot about your (or your institution’s) fund-development mentality. Are you a year-end closer or a springtime cultivator? Most nonprofits spend enormous an amount...
