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The job of a nonprofit executive director involves numerous and ever-changing roles and responsibilities, which can lead to personal burnout — and paralysis for an entire organization, write Mim Carlson and Margaret Donohoe, leadership development consultants and authors who draw on robust careers in the nonprofit sector to deliver a new book, “The Executive Director’s Survival Guide.”

Carlson and Donohoe provide suggestions for tackling duties such as fundraising and creating a budget, as well as juggling internal priorities of staff and volunteer development, financial management, program effectiveness, resource development and board relations.

Selecting a fundraising agency to build your donor or membership program can be a tough decision, with many factors to consider. It makes sense, then, to prepare a Request for Proposal that gives responding agencies the proper information and asks the right questions.

The RFP can sometimes be the official “first date” for most agency/nonprofit organization relationships. It sets the tone for the partnership and provides a road map for future success.

Randomness: “Having no specific pattern, purpose or objective.” Could there be another word that strikes greater dread in the hearts of nonprofit fundraisers? Sure, it’s nice to get that unexpected, random gift. But how — HOW, you fret — do you get that person to give again... and again... and... ?

A Gift for Gifting Twelve years ago, Beth Gentner, CFRE By SHARON R. COLE ProFile: Beth Gentner, CFRE, former director of development for the John Glenn Institute at Ohio State University Grew up in: Spartanburg, SC. A southerner at heart, she says she's happy to have recently returned to the South to reside in Atlanta. Fundraising experience: Former director of development for the John Glenn Institute at Ohio State University, where she arrived in time to participate in its landmark $1 billion+ capital campaign and remained for five very successful years. She also was a regional major-gifts officer and managed both annual fund programs,

Once considered haphazard and uncoordinated, international relief and rescue efforts have come into their own as vital fundraising campaigns. Whether responding to the grave effects of a natural disaster or to the plight of malnourished children in third-world countries, organizations such as American Red Cross, CARE, UNICEF, Food for the Hungry, International Rescue Committee and a host of others have heeded the global call.

Saving money is imperative in today’s economy. With budgets being slashed and revenues down, nonprofit organizations are under tremendous pressure to cut costs. It’s a challenge, especially when trying to maintain an appropriate image.

In direct mail print production, doing more with less always has been the name of the game. But now more than ever, finding hidden savings means reviewing all the options — suppliers, equipment and the many factors that influence cost, including paper, sheet sizes and printing techniques.

It’s a stunningly perfect, late-summer day in the nation’s capital, and Carsten Walter is doing his best Homer Simpson impression — though maybe not on purpose. The affable, animated Walter slaps the heel of his hand against his forehead, rolls his eyes and explains how certain “duh moments” play into his work as director of membership programs at D.C.’s venerable Heritage Foundation.

Donor and member attrition is an eternal challenge in fundraising. But in the past three years, the problem has magnified to the point that it’s causing hardships for some of even the largest nonprofit organizations.

You can have the most deserving cause and a highly compelling appeal, but your direct mail is going to be wasted if it’s sent to the wrong lists. That’s why, for any direct mail fundraising campaign, the list is the most important element within the nonprofit organization’s control — that, according to Mal Warwick, chairman of Mal Warwick & Associates Inc., Berkeley, CA.

The struggling economy has made it a challenging time for fundraisers. With disposable income harder to come by, there are fewer dollars to be had and the same number of nonprofit organizations — or even more — competing for them.  

Tough economic times also mean there are more people who need the help that charitable organizations provide.

So how can fundraising professionals determine how much to ask from donors? What formulas should they use — or not use? What else should they consider when determining the “ask”?

Major gifts make it possible for nonprofits to perpetuate their missions, so it behooves fundraisers to gain donor trust and respect. One of the best ways to do that, according to Laura Fredericks, author of “Developing Major Gifts: Turning Small Donors Into Big Contributors,” is to be sensitive to donor concerns.

What to do? A legend in direct marketing comes up with an idea for your nonprofit, an idea that would increase donations dramatically. But it’s an idea that goes against the very core of your mission.

If you’re Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, you reject it. You send direct marketing guru Jerry Huntsinger away and quietly hope he’ll come back.

With an uncertain economy tightening purse strings, war and terrorism drawing people into themselves, and high-profile scandals undermining the public trust, these are challenging times for nonprofits. But they’re exciting times too, because from challenge comes change ... and growth.

The development challenges that plague nonprofits these days are a powerful impetus for change in the fundraising world. And there’s an increasing need for a catalyst for that change, a clearinghouse of ideas, a place where the professionals go to share and learn.

How can a $20 lace nightgown help fight cancer? What good can a candle shaped like a moccasin be to a child whose family can’t afford to send him to school?

Information technology can be a very expensive endeavour. Nonprofit organizations often seek donations or grants in order to obtain the technology products and services that are increasingly becoming mandatory components of their operation. As with most things, though, the devil is in the details. Most people don’t realize that modern commercial software is rarely “sold” in the conventional sense, but rather “licensed”. Microsoft explains that this “is different than purchasing a car or house in that you have the right to run the software but there are ongoing requirements that determine how the software can be used.” The requirements of

Unlike the tax v By MAURA SZENDEY and BRYAN TERPSTRA For most of us, when we hear the word "audit," our gut instinct is to run and hide. We've been trained to think an audit means a review of our finances, and sometimes that can be downright scary! But there are other types of audits that can be a lot less stressful and have a big impact on your bottom line. There are two common, basic audits, for example, to help evaluate the annual performance of a direct marketing program: a creative audit and a file audit. For nonprofits with mail programs

By HARRY GRUBER The philanthropic playing field has become increasingly competitive, and many nonprofits struggle to earn their fair share of charitable giving. Instead of just soliciting donors, today's savvy organizations partner with them to generate gifts and, ideally, lifelong giving. Smoothing the playing field requires an ongoing affinity between the donor and the cause. This type of experience escalates an individual from basic involvement to having a strong emotional connection that results in taking action to provide financial or volunteer support. The Internet increasingly has become a powerful tool to harness that connection and empower your organization, allowing it to provide instant

Your nonprofit needs you to have the courage to fundraise. I’m surprised how often I need to remind fundraisers that their job is to raise funds. That is true for CEOs and executive directors too. Here’s hoping these two approaches will help you ask without fear and see your mission fully funded!

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