From the President's Office
Dear Friend:
If you were at the Michigan Nonprofit Superconference in Detroit earlier this week, you may have heard my colleague Dan Moore speak, or you might have met him and another colleague, Karen Rayzor, at the GuideStar exhibit. If you missed the Superconference, you will have another chance to meet a number of us at the Council of Foundations conference next week or at several other events over the summer (see the list at the end of this article).
Why this attention to conferences? It's simple: we are determined to make GuideStar an organization that is driven by your needs and interests. We want to learn everything we can about what data to collect, how to present it to you, and what types of products and services we can offer to help you do your job more easily and more effectively. ...
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Recognize Your Donors with Results
"Donor recognition"—that means mugs, keychains, and other tchotchkes, or putting someone's name on the side of a building. Doesn't it?
Even though most donors will never bring up the topic of recognition, you should assume they want it.
Take a moment to think about yourself. Think of times you have been a donor, a board member, a volunteer, or a staff member. Think of the times you have been recognized in any of these roles. What did the organization say or do to show you that they appreciate you? Did it work? Did it get the job done? How did it feel to you? Think of the very best example of a time you felt fully appreciated and recognized as a donor. What made it feel so right? ... Read more
Shortage Decade: Where Will the Next
Generation of Nonprofit Leaders Come From?
Nearly 25 percent of nonprofit leaders have said they will leave the sector by the end of this year, and more plan to follow by the end of the decade. Replacing them will require some creativity.
There are half as many Generation X'ers as there are baby boomers. This is why demographers and policy analysts talk about the impact of retiring baby boomers on Social Security and Medicare and why we hear about impending shortages of leaders and managers in every sector from government to big business to the nonprofit sector. This major demographic change is headline news regularly across the country and was acknowledged by the Chronicle of Philanthropy in their January edition with a front-page story on succession planning. ... Read more
The Seven Deadly Donor Newsletter Flaws
Do your donor newsletters get the response you want? If not, you might want to check for these common errors.
Almost every donor newsletter I see suffers from at least one of the following fatal flaws. You would be shocked by how many donor newsletters suffer from all seven.
Flaw #1: Your newsletter fails the "you test." ... Read more
Yes, Virginia, We Have Tutorials:
April Question of the Month Results
OK, admit it: you didn't know GuideStar has tutorials, did you? Well, we do—several of them, in fact. Read on to learn more.
We've long suspected that users aren't aware of everything available on GuideStar. That's OK, as long as people can find what they need, when they need it. We also suspected, however, that users didn't realize that we have tools to help them do just that. Thus, the April Question of the Month asked, "Have you ever used one of GuideStar's tutorials or demos?"
Our suppositions proved correct: only 11 percent of respondents said they had. The remaining 89 percent reported unanimously that they did not know that GuideStar had tutorials and demos. ... Read more
In This Issue
Recognize Your Donors with Results
Yes, Virginia, We Have Tutorials
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If someone asked you for advice on recruiting effective nonprofit board members, what would you suggest? Share your answer
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