Every once in a while, an extraordinary event occurs which alters the world of non profits and fundraisers.

Like ripples on a pond, these events radiate out in ever increasing circles of influence, affecting everything around them.  Whether this influence is temporary or permanent, as fundraisers we need to adjust our plans and continue on our course.

One example of events such as this are the September 11^th, terrorist attacks, when for weeks afterward non 9/11 related causes suffered lower returns in their fundraising.

More recently, the Tsunami in Southeast Asia received extensive news coverage, not only for the horrific devastation, but also for the unprecedented levels of financial donations.

Today, more than 4 months after the disaster, I’d like to hear from our readers on what impact the Tsunami had on your fundraising program and what adjustments, if any, you made to your marketing strategy.

The results will be published in our July issue.  Watch for The Tsunami Effect: How the disaster affected our fundraising and what we did about it.

The Quest for Best Practice

Fundraisers today face a variety of stewardship challenges:

• Tracking commitments to donors

• Consistency with recognition signage

• Offending donors with inaccurate recognition

• Recognizing past gifts

• Treating donors the same…but in different ways

• Ensuring fulfillment of commitments in a timely fashion

• Knowing when and how to report to donors

Let’s focus on each of the challenges individually.

Challenge:  Tracking commitments to donors

It is difficult to track promises when no formal agreement exists.  Often times formal agreements exist but in separate documents such as financial terms vs. recognition terms.  The problem is that unfulfilled promises can result in unhappy donors.

To read more about proactive stewardship, click here.

Applications for your Board

Sarbanes-Oxley has helped develop a new model of governance for nonprofit boards.  Best practices influenced by Sarbanes-Oxley can help create change in nonprofit boards.

By comparing and contrasting Board practice of years gone by with Sarbanes-Oxley -influenced best practices for today, we can see the changes our Board need to make.

Previously Board members could be selected without a screening process, whereas today a nominating committee should screen prospective members and submit nominations to full Board for a vote.

In the past, either Board Members didn’t receive an orientation, or they merely attended a social gathering.  Today, Board members should receive a job description, an orientation and receive pertinent documents such as a strategic plan, financial documents and bylaws.

For many years the agenda at Board meetings was staff driven, while Board members played a passive role.  Today, Board members are expected to prepare in advance by reviewing materials and coming to meetings ready to debate issues.

To read more about Sarbanes-Oxley & Board Membership, click here.

Consulting, tools available for nonprofits mulling planned giving.  By Todd Cohen

Whether to invest in planned-giving software depends on the degree to which a nonprofit focuses on planned gifts, experts say.

“It really depends on the sophistication of the nonprofit,” says consultant James E. Connell of Connell and Associates in Pinehurst, N.C. “The key information that a charity needs is to completely understand the goals and objectives of the donor. The experienced planned-giving person will then develop a plan that meets those goals.”

Planned-giving software, he says, “provides the tool that fills in the plan, but you have to have a good strategy first. If you don’t know what the strategy is going to be, no software is going to help you.”

Editor’s note:  This article was written for CAGP (Canadian Association of Gift Planners), although the recommendations apply for all of North America including NCPG (National Committee on Planned Giving).

Will the next frontier for the CAGP be the licensing of Gift Planners to raise the level of professionalism and protect the public? 

The Canadian Association of Gift Planners (CAGP) has been around for more than a decade and has made great strides in advancing the profession of gift planning in Canada.  Its annual educational conference, parallel and now formal association with the Banff Centre courses, government relations initiatives, strong grass roots Round Table organizations and its forum for dialogue in the sector have done much to develop professional standards of practice.  However, the time is coming for CAGP to do much more.

To read the full article, click here.

Surprising Results

Americans and Canadians are among the most generous in leaving bequests to charity reports a recent study from AXA.  Thirty one per cent of American workers and 23% or Canadian workers reported they expect to leave a bequest to charity.

Britons are among the least generous in the world when it comes to leaving part of their estates to charity, a report claims today. Only the Dutch, Belgians, Italians and Japanese are less generous to charity than Britons in their wills.  Japan’s results weighed in at a dismal one per cent for workers and one per cent for retirees expecting to make charitable bequests, respectively.

Research from AXA revealed that only around 8% of Britons in work and 9% of retired people would like to leave part of their estates to good causes.

To read more about international bequests, click here.