News & Events – Page 7 – Giving Tree Associates, Inc.

Passing the Reigns – Developing, Presenting, and Implementing an Annual Campaign Plan

I am in the final stage of work with a wonderful organization and had an opportunity for reflection during a new board member orientation. Goldie’s Place is a support center for people who are homeless, assisting them to become self – supporting and financially independent by providing confidence-building dental treatment,…

Fundraising 101

Planning for the Future

Definition: Endowment, specifically, is a gift of money or income producing property to an organization for general operating support or a specific purpose (such as research or scholarships). Generally, the endowed asset is kept intact and only the interest or earnings generated by it is consumed – 5% annually. An…

Guest Bloggers

Writing Right in 2014

In this Internet age, even the guy on the corner hawking his wares has a website. But merely having a website is not enough. Even if you’ve invested a significant amount of time and resources into building a state of the art site, driving traffic and remaining relevant depends on…

Guest Bloggers

Leadership Development – Really?

In response to frequently discussed crises in leadership, nonprofit organizations seem to have a particular focus of late on leadership development. Millions of dollars are expended annually for training sessions, retreats, and various projects purporting to train volunteer and professional “leaders.” As one who has been both student and teacher…

Capital/Endowment Campaign Management

The Psychology of Giving – Why People Give or Don’t Give

At the end of the day, fundraising is like life. Your best friends are the ones you can most count on to give back to you what you need. And so it goes with fundraising. People who are friends of your organization are the ones most likely to give back…

Capital/Endowment Campaign Management

Charitable Solicitation Registration – Part 2

It’s not about your nonprofit’s address. It’s about the addresses to which you send your appeals for support. In my last post, I introduced the topic of Charitable Solicitation Registration. As a reminder, Charitable Solicitation Registration is a way in which states protect their citizens by regulating who can solicit donations. …

Grant Writing

Unique Funder = Unique Application Process

Every Foundation is different and therefore every grant proposal you submit will be different, even if it is for the same program and requests the same dollar amount as the one before. Before you sit down to write a grant proposal, spend some time studying the prospective funder and their…

Social Media

Are you LinkedIn?

Welcome to the world of LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network. Globally, there are 250 million members “Linking In”. With LinkedIn becoming more popular every day, Giving Tree is learning to better utilize the site to share our expertise with the non-profit community and to strengthen our individual…

Board Development Capital/Endowment Campaign Management

Yes, Your Board Must Fundraise.

When prospective clients call and ask us to engage in a campaign management project, one of the first questions we ask is about lay leadership. “Tell us about the board’s role in fundraising…” we inquire. Or “…do you have a development committee?” Our first line of questioning tells us a…

Capital/Endowment Campaign Management

Calendar Crunch

Fundraising takes creativity and patience. It also takes time, lots of it, and that’s a luxury not all of us can afford. We start out the year with big ideas and even bigger goals, yet before we know it, the campaign’s close is around the corner, and we feel like…

Capital/Endowment Campaign Management

Charitable Solicitation Registration

It’s not about our nonprofit’s address. It’s about the addresses to which you send your appeals for support. Most non-profit organizations solicit donors through the mail at some point over the course of a year, as part of their overall annual campaign. What is often unknown or overlooked by organizations, is…

Fundraising 101

What is a Major Gift?

Major Gifts are the backbone of your campaign. They fund new initiatives and keep your existing programs running. They also help identify individuals who are invested in the growth of the organization that you can continue to steward to increase their annual gift. It is important that your organization has…

Fundraising 101

The Core of Your Fundraising Efforts: The Annual Campaign

Any organization that needs to raise money to sustain itself, has, or should have, an annual campaign. Through annual campaigns, organizations build and develop a donor base, cultivate a culture of giving, educate and inform constituents on the cause and the need for the organization, and raise necessary funds to…

Capital/Endowment Campaign Management

Capital Campaigns- Laying the Groundwork

Capital Campaigns are rarely, if ever, invoked to raise a small amount of money. Rather, they are designed to raise amounts that go above and beyond the regular call for support that an organization’s constituency is used to receiving. There are two main reasons for this: one, for the amount…

Capital/Endowment Campaign Management

Capital Campaigns- The What? and The Why?

Capital Campaigns are designed to raise money for a specific need, almost always regarding a physical structure or asset of an organization. Most Capital Campaigns are initiated to acquire, replace, or significantly refurbish an aging facility. In some instances, donations from a Capital Campaign go towards filling those facilities with…

Fundraising 101

The Loyalty Program of the Nonprofit World

Donors are, in many ways, similar to consumers. Consumers often take a chance on a new product. When the product meets or exceeds their needs, they may purchase it again and again. Businesses offer incentives to lure in consumers and reward programs to keep them loyal, and large corporations spend…

Grant Writing

The Art of Grant Writing – It’s All About The Mission

Prior to sitting down to write a grant proposal it’s crucial that you have a solid understanding of the mission, goals and objectives of the organization. Who am I representing in my writing? What is the value added as a result of the work? How are lives being changed? The…

Board Development

The Importance of a Good Nominating Chair

Like food, non-profit boards can get stale. Even for those serving with the best of intentions, things can stagnate. When they do, fundraising becomes more difficult. It’s important to renew and revive the Board, preferably on an annual basis, in order to keep juices flowing and ideas coming to reach…

News

Welcome to Giving Tree Associates’ New Blog!

Not only have we updated our website, but we have added a blog page! Follow…

Board Development

The Fine Line Between Professional and Lay Leadership

Professional staff and lay leadership work together on a weekly if not daily basis. While each group has different roles in the organization, these roles and responsibilities often become blurred by working hand-in-hand to achieve one mission. It is important to clearly define the roles of each group to ensure…