Articles
Accountability, Ethics, and Trust in the Sector
- How Ethical Is Your Nonprofit Organization? (November 2004)
- Nonprofits and Individuals Meet in Cyberspace (March 2003)
- On the Road to a Conflict-of-Interest-Free Sector: December 2005 Question of the Month Results (January 2006)
- Paper-Thin Transparency: March Question of the Month Results (April 2007)
- Principles from the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector: Yet Another List of "Shoulds"? (January 2008)
- Reflections on "Dirty Money": March Question of the Month Results (April 2006)
- The State of Confidence in the Nonprofit Sector (September 2004)
- What Nonprofit Transparency Means to You: October Question of the Month Results (November 2006)
- All articles in this category
Advice for Donors
- The 2006 Giving Season and the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (December 2006)
- Tips for Choosing a Charity
A donor's 10-step guide to giving wisely (December 2005) - Why Ratios Aren't the Last Word (June 2004)
- All articles in this category
Boards
- Finding Effective Board Members: May Question of the Month Results (June 2006)
- Going for Consensus, Not Robert's Rules (February 2008)
- Joining a Nonprofit Board in a Post-Enron World (March 2003)
- Ten Tips for Staying Sane about Your Board (June 2005)
- Top Five Ways to Show Your Board That You Value Them (September 2007)
- Transforming Your Board Members into Brand Ambassadors (January 2007)
- What to Ask Every Prospective Board Member (August 2007)
- All articles in this category
Communications, Marketing, and Branding
- Anatomy of an External Brand Audit (July 2007)
- Avoiding the Messaging Trap (July 2005)
- Branding as a Fundraising Tool (December 2007)
- Branding Helps Reveal "The Best-Kept Secret in Town" (November 2007)
- Branding Myths (March 2006)
- Creating a Theme Line That Works: A Nonprofit Association Case Study (April 2006)
- Getting the Word Out, Part I (December 2003)
- Getting the Word Out, Part II (January 2004)
- How to Deliver a Bad Presentation: Ways to Confuse, Bore, or Annoy Your Audience during a PowerPoint Presentation (August 2007)
- How to Design a Bad Presentation: Ways to Misuse Visuals, Text, and Animation in a PowerPoint Presentation (August 2007)
- Information, Please (February 2004)
- Initial Success: Expressing Your Nonprofit Brand through Initials (February 2007)
- Keeping Everyone in Your Organization on Brand Message (May 2007)
- Nonprofit Media Tour: Free Press Makes Cents! (March 2005)
- The Nonprofit Persona: Tips to Ensure Consistent Messaging Across Mediums (November 2007)
- Not Just for Madison Avenue: The Basics of Nonprofit Marketing (November 2004)
- Promoting Your Brand (June 2005)
- Promoting Your Not-for-Profit through Public Relations (September 2005)
- Unlocking the Mysteries of an Internal Brand Audit (March 2007)
- What Is Your Organization's "Elevator Message"? (July 2006)
- All articles in this category
Compensation
- Are Nonprofit Executives Paid Fairly? IRS Actions and September Question of the Month Results (October 2004)
- Best Practices in Nonprofit Compensation (September 2003)
- Gender, Geography, and Nonprofit Compensation (October 2004)
- Highlights of the 2007 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report (October 2007)
- IRS Increases Enforcement Focus on Nonprofit Executive Compensation (March 2007)
- Is the Glass Ceiling Weakening? Highlights of the
2006 GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report (November 2006) - All articles in this category
Form 990
- De-myth-ifying IRS Form 990 (June 2004)
- E-file—What?s in It For Me? (March 2004)
- Electronic Initiatives in 2006 (March 2006)
- Get the Facts: 990 Disclosure Rules (July 2003)
- How to Make Your Form 990-PF Work for You (March 2002)
- IRS Updates, December 2007: Final E-Filing Regulations and Temporary E-Postcard Regulations Issued (December 2007)
- Making Your 990 Work for You (February 2003)
- Unveiled: The IRS Introduces the Redesigned Form 990 (January 2008)
- All articles in this category
Fundraising and Sustainability
- A Year in the Life of a Fundraiser: Year-round Fundraising for Everybody (April 2007)
- Are You Ready to Launch a Bequest Program? (June 2007)
- Beware Publicity When Raising Big Gifts (July 2007)
- Building Donor Affinity While Incorporating Financial Data into Fundraising Campaigns (February 2008)
- E-philanthropy: Lessons Learned from TouchDC and the D.C. Strengthening Partners Initiative (SPI) (April 2006)
- Essential Elements of Great Fundraising (May 2005)
- Fundraising's Four Magic Questions: Answer These and the Gift Is Yours (March 2007)
- The Future of Fundraising (August 2007)
- Grant Writing 101: Resources for Grant Writers
February Question of the Month Results (March 2006) - Grant Writing 102: Tips from Successful Grantwriters (April 2006)
- Grants.gov: A Centralized Approach to Finding Government Funding (February 2006)
- Hairsplitting Traps to Avoid in Direct Mail Fundraising (August 2006)
- How to "Missionize" Your Events (March 2006)
- If You Didn't Get the Gift, Here's Why (February 2007)
- If You Write It (with Emotion), They Will Give (September 2007)
- The Importance of Listening and Why People Give: In Every Contact, a Billionaire's Gift (June 2005)
- The Importance of Respecting Donor Wishes (March 2005)
- Is Mobile Fundraising the Next Frontier for Charities? (November 2007)
- Making Your Needs Known (October 2005)
- Misconceptions about Writing Fundraising Letters (November 2007)
- Multi-Channel Fundraising: Tips of the Trade (October 2007)
- New Survey Looks at Giving from a Different Angle (November 2007)
- On-line Fundraising Best Practices: Two Words of Advice (February 2006)
- On-line Monthly Giving—A Review of Nonprofit Programs (January 2008)
- Planning an On-line Fundraising Event (January 2006)
- Please Pass the Salt (July 2005)
- Raising $$$ through Special Events: June Question of the Month Results (July 2005)
- Scheduling Thanks: July Question of the Month Results (August 2005)
- Stop the Stopgap Measures! Taking a Long-range View toward Fundraising and Creating a Plan That Fulfills It (July 2006)
- The Story of the Gold Toes: The Best-Kept Holiday Fundraising Secret (November 2007)
- Sweaty Palms: Surviving In-Person Meetings with Foundations (June 2006)
- Tapping into Social Networks, or, Creating a Funding Treasure Map (September 2005)
- The 20 Biggest Fundraising Mistakes, Part I (October 2007)
- The 20 Biggest Fundraising Mistakes, Part II (November 2007)
- These Seven Donor Newsletter Flaws Are Killing You (May 2006)
- Top Seven Indicators That You Should Consider a Capital or Endowment Campaign (June 2006)
- True Sustainability: A New Model to Aid Nonprofits in Developing Self-Sustaining Revenue Streams (May 2005)
- Understanding the Motivations of Major Donors, Part I: The Most Important Things to Know (December 2006)
- Understanding the Motivations of Major Donors, Part II: Know Thy Donors (January 2007)
- Wired Fundraising: April Question of the Month Results (May 2007)
- Writing E-mails for Fundraising: The "Rules" Are a Bit Different from Your Other Communications (April 2006)
- Writing Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money: On the Delicate Subject of Committee and Board Approvals (April 2007)
- Writing Knockout Proposals (November 2006)
- All articles in this category
GuideStar
- The Best Reference Resource in American Philanthropy (May 2004)
- Coming Soon: GuideStar Premium 2.0 (August 2007)
- Everyone's a Winner on the GuideStar Exchange (February 2008)
- Faster Than a Speeding Bullet, Able to Obtain More Relevant Results with a Single Click: GuideStar's New Search Engine (October 2006)
- Federal Agency Taps into the Power of the GuideStar Database (February 2007)
- From the President's Office, September 2007 (September 2007)
- From the President's Office, October 2007 (October 2007)
- From the President's Office, November 2007 (November 2007)
- From the President's Office, December 2007 (December 2007)
- From the President's Office, January 2008 (January 2008)
- From the President's Office, February 2008 (February 2008)
- From the President's Office, April 2006 (April 2006)
- From the President's Office, August 2006 (August 2006)
- From the President's Office, February 2006 (February 2006)
- From the President's Office, January 2006 (January 2006)
- From the President's Office, July 2006 (July 2006)
- From the President's Office, June 2006 (June 2006)
- From the President's Office, March 2006 (March 2006)
- From the President's Office, May 2006 (May 2006)
- Get Your Organization Listed on the New GuideStar Exchange (December 2007)
- Giving to Charity Just Got Easier (December 2007)
- GuideStar on the Road (November 2007)
- Partner Spotlight: Hands On Network (August 2006)
- Introducing Gov@GuideStar (August 2006)
- More Than Alphabet Soup: GuideStar's FAQs (January Question of the Month Results) (February 2007)
- Partner Spotlight: Network for Good (August 2006)
- Poised to Make a Difference in D.C. (February 2008)
- What Matters®. about United eWay (March 2006)
- Why GuideStar Uses Cookie Technology (January 2006)
- Yes, Virginia, We Have Tutorials: April Question of the Month Results (May 2006)
- All articles in this category
Insurance
- Insurance Advice for Start-up Nonprofits (July 2006)
- Insurance Trips and Traps for Nonprofits (January 2005)
- Making Insurance Easier to Administer (May 2005)
- All articles in this category
The Law and Regulations
- Anti-Terrorist Financing: Lower Court Finds Executive Order Provisions Unconstitutional (February 2007)
- August 2006 Charity Reform Update: House Approves Charitable Giving Incentives and Reforms (August 2006)
- Blocking Terrorist Funding: Treasury's Risk Matrix for the Charitable Sector (August 2007)
- A Brief Overview of Supporting Organizations (January 2007)
- Charitable Deductions for Non-Itemizers: November Question of the Month Results (December 2005)
- Charity Reform Update (June 2006)
- Charity Reform Update, June 2007: Senate Finance Committee Leaders Advocate Form 990 Revision (June 2007)
- Congress Looks at Charity Reform (July 2004)
- Culling the Bad Apples: The IRS Acts (July 2004)
- Faxes to Your Members: New Rules Effective August 1, 2006 (August 2006)
- Federal Lobby Reform Legislation Will Affect Nonprofit Advocacy (April 2006)
- Free IRS Training Available from Your Desktop (February 2007)
- How Nonprofits Have Responded to Sarbanes-Oxley: August Question of the Month Results (August 2005)
- International Giving by Public Charities (April 2007)
- IRS Issues New Implementing Guidelines for FY 2008 (January 2008)
- IRS Update, November 2007: Updated Compliance Guidelines for Public Charities and Private Foundations (October 2007)
- IRS Updates, May 2007 (May 2007)
- IRS Updates, June 2007: Public Disclosure of IRS Form 990-T and Political Activities of Exempt Organizations (June 2007)
- IRS Updates, March 2007: Telephone Tax Refund and Free Training on Changes in Exempt Organizations Tax Law (March 2007)
- IRS Updates, July 2007: Revised Form 990 and Proposal for an Exempt Organization Voluntary Compliance Program (July 2007)
- Just What Are Public Charities and Private Foundations, Anyway? (August 2001)
- Legislative and IRS Updates, October 2007 (October 2007)
- New Rules Affecting Donor-Advised Funds: December 2006 Question of the Month Results (January 2007)
- Nonprofit Congress: Many Missions, One Voice (June 2006)
- Nonprofits and Antiterrorism: An Interview with Amit Sharma of the U.S. Treasury (October 2006)
- Nonprofits Ask Treasury to Withdraw Anti-Terrorist Financing Guidelines (February 2007)
- Nonprofits, Sarbanes-Oxley, and the States (August 2005)
- Regulatory Round Up (June 2006)
- Sales and Use Tax Exemptions for Nonprofit Organizations (March 2007)
- The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Implications for Nonprofit Organizations (March 2003)
- Senate Approves Charitable Giving Legislation (December 2005)
- Senate Committee Passes New Accountability Rules: Passage of Giving Incentives Now in Doubt (July 2006)
- Staying on the E-mail Up and Up: What Nonprofits Need to Know about CAN-SPAM (January 2005)
- All articles in this category
Management and Administration
- Alternatives to Unemployment Taxes for 501(c)(3)s (April 2005)
- Beyond the Checkbook: Accounting Systems in Growing Organizations (June 2007)
- The Case for MBAs in the Nonprofit Sector (February 2008)
- Change Management (July 2005)
- Communicating Your Organization's Culture to Job Candidates (January 2008)
- Conducting Effective Interviews: What You Need to Know (February 2007)
- Developing a Search Strategy: Your Roadmap for Hiring (May 2007)
- Do Your Homework, Do Your Duty: Ten Ways to Protect Your Organization When Engaging Outside Services (July 2007)
- Ensuring New Employees' Success: Best Practices for Employee Onboarding (April 2007)
- Hallmarks of Effective Nonprofits: September Question of the Month Results (October 2006)
- The Importance of Evaluation (April 2005)
- Innovation at Work: Helping Nonprofits Raise the Bar on Ingenuity (December 2006)
- Introduction to Competency-Based Hiring (July 2007)
- Nonprofit Leadership, It Soon Will Be a-Changin': Will the Sector Be Ready? (January 2006)
- Nonprofits' Three Greatest Challenges (April 2005)
- Shortage Decade: Where Will the Next Generation of Nonprofit Leaders Come From? (May 2006)
- Strategic Planning: Cutting Through the Buzz (January 2004)
- Structuring Roles in the Hiring Process (September 2007)
- Taking a Businesslike Approach to Charity (December 2004)
- Tenets of Leadership (October 2006)
- To Audit Committee or Not to Audit Committee, That Is the Question
(Along with "How?") (September 2005) - Transferable Skills Open New Talent Pools to Nonprofits (October 2007)
- All articles in this category
Nonprofits and the Economy
- It All Depends on Whom You Ask: How Nonprofits Did at the End of 2005 (January Question of the Month Results) (February 2006)
- A Light at the End of the Tunnel? Results of the 2004 GuideStar Nonprofit Economic Survey (December 2004)
- More Money, More Demand: Results of the 2006 GuideStar Nonprofit Economic Survey (December 2006)
- Signs of Stability: Results of the 2007 GuideStar Nonprofit Economic Survey (December 2007)
- Siphoning Off Philanthropy: July Question of the Month Results (August 2006)
- So Far, So Good: Results of the 2005 GuideStar Nonprofit Economic Survey (December 2005)
- "We Believe That the Katrina Effect Was Real": Comments from GuideStar Nonprofit Economic Survey Participants (December 2005)
- All articles in this category
Resources for Nonprofits
- Avoiding E-mail Scams (November 2005)
- CLEAR Circles: Supporting Nonprofit Leaders in a New Way (August 2006)
- New Credit/Debit Card Scam (February 2006)
- Nonprofits That Help Nonprofits (May 2003)
- Plugged-In Learning: May Question of the Month Results (June 2007)
- Preparing for Negotiation (February 2005)
- Pro Bono and More: On-line Legal Resources for Nonprofits (April 2003)
- Reporting Your Organization's Finances: Making It All Add Up (June 2004)
- Resources for Financial Reporting (July 2004)
- Selecting Accounting Software (September 2007)
- All articles in this category
Technology
- A Look at the Benefits of Open Platforms: The Driver of Nonprofit Technology Growth (December 2007)
- Open Source and Nonprofits: A Good Match? (March 2004)
- Position Yourself to Write a Superior Technology Proposal (August 2003)
- Technology Triage: Keeping Mission-Critical Technology Running (September 2004)
- 10 Tips for Funding Technology (January 2004)
- All articles in this category
Volunteers
- Bridging the Gap between Volunteers and Coordination (January 2007)
- Is Your Organization Ready for "The Boom"? (November 2007)
- Starting a Volunteer Program: October Question of the Month Results (November 2005)
- Volunteers, Part I: What Makes Them Stay? (April 2007)
- Volunteers, Part II: Why Do They Leave? (May 2007)
- All articles in this category
Web Sites and Internet Strategy
- Avoiding a Tangled Web: How to Work with a Web Site Contractor (August 2003)
- Creating Spam-Filter-Friendly E-mails (January 2007)
- Does Your Web Site Give People What They Want? (March 2003)
- Heavy Traffic Is a Good Thing (June 2003)
- How Good Is Your Web Site? The Importance of User Feedback (June 2003)
- How Your Nonprofit Can Use the Internet Strategically (July 2004)
- Is Your Organization Ready for On-line Social Networking? (January 2008)
- To Blog or Not to Blog, That Was the June Question of the Month (July 2006)
- Where Newsletter Readers Seek (Web Site) Help: February Question of the Month Results (March 2007)
- All articles in this category
The Nonprofit Sector
- Mixed Economic Picture for Charities:
New GuideStar survey reveals both good and bad news (December 2003) - All articles in this category