From GreaterGiving.com Procuring auction items is hard work! Follow these tips to save time and procure items that will make you the most money. When you start procuring auction items, do you: A) Send out a general call to your school, church, or supporter network for general donations? B) Reach out to local businesses and ask for specific types of donations? C) Focus on in-demand items and request only those? Many organizations answer this question with A)—and end up with a silent auction that feels more like a garage sale. With B) and C), you save yourself and your auction committee time by collecting fewer items, making fewer packages, and putting only the best out on the auction tables.

By Sylia Obagi Director of Operations, Annenberg Foundation Posted at HuffingtonPost.com Most nonprofit leaders don't think of income generation as their top priority. Their purposes to serve, they reason. Raising money is secondary. This kind of thinking is one of the biggest mistakes a nonprofit can make. Without a strong fundraising culture, nonprofits often lurch from one financial crisis to another. Many fail to thrive. In spite of good ideas and sometimes great potential, some simply die.

Winston & Winnie slacking by the pool. By Alyce Lee Stansbury on tallahassee.com It’s summertime and the living is easy — or so it used to be. Early in my fundraising career, I looked forward to summer because the fundraising work slowed down and I had time to reflect, evaluate, organize and plan. Those days are over. Fundraising has become a steady 12-month blur of events and campaigns. Today, all the nonprofits I know are actively fundraising on a year-round basis. That said, summer is still a good time to position your nonprofit for greater fundraising success. Here are a few suggestions.

The following letter to the donors of America was penned by the leaders of the country’s three leading sources of information on nonprofits – GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and BBB Wise Giving Alliance. The letter is made available the the public under the Attribution-NoDerivs Creative Commons license, which allows for it to be shared and distributed for any purpose so long as it remains unchanged. You may download a PDF of the letter here. - re-posted from overheadmyth.com To the Donors of America: We write to correct a misconception about what matters when deciding which charity to support. The percent of charity expenses that go to administrative and fundraising costs—commonly referred to as “overhead”—is a poor measure of a charity’s performance. We ask you to pay attention to other factors of nonprofit performance: transparency, governance, leadership, and results. For years, each of our organizations has been working to increase the depth and breadth of the information we provide to donors in these areas so as to provide a much fuller picture of a charity’s performance.

By Gail Perry MBA CFRE on her blog Fired Up Fundraising Gail is a consultant, speaker, author and coach for nonprofit leaders Where do you look for potential donors? Here are some shortcuts to help you identify the right donor prospects who can take your cause to the next level. 1. If you need funding, go to your current donors first. They have already invested in you. They are “pre-sold” on your organization and on your cause so to speak. They’ve already voted with their money that they believe in you. Work for deeper relationships with these existing donors, and you’ll be more successful.

Here is a great article from Gail Perry about 10 ways your major donors are changing in today's fundraising landscape. In her list she outlines the general mood of major donors, which demographic segments are best targeted and some best practices for getting the best bang for your buck. By Gail Perry in her blog GailPerry.com Major donors have changed a lot in what they want and expect from nonprofits. Ten years ago, you could raise good money with a “spray and pray” appeal that was boring and generic. Now we have to work harder and smarter. The good news is that we can rely on plenty of research about major donors. What are they are thinking about their philanthropy and nonprofits? I’ve culled through the research – and here are my Top 10 Major Donor Trends for 2013 – along with a strategy to ride each trend productively. Trend 1. Donors are wary of trusting us. Trust is a huge issue these days. What can you do to help your donors trust you?

From Nonprofit Quarterly - nonprofitquarterly.org Editors’ note: The following article was excerpted from the book The Science of Giving: Experimental Approaches to the Study of Charity, edited by Danny Oppenheimer and Christopher Olivola. The chapter, entitled “Social Influences in Giving: Field Experiences in Public Radio,” by Rachel Croson and Jen (Yue) Shang, provides an approach to understanding the role of social information in fundraising. While the public broadcasting environment in which the study was conducted may seem unique, we believe that this article holds implications for online fundraising specifically and also for individual donor fundraising in general. What social information about fellow donors and a donor’s own network has an impact on gift size? This article reviews research in the field, but there is much more to find out. Individual donations are the bread and butter of the public broadcasting industry in the United States. In 2006, more than 800 member radio stations collected $275 million from individual donors. 1 These donations were collected based on the fundraising principle that public services drive public support: that is, when people listen, they give;? when audience declines, so do donations. 2

By Beth Kanter in her blog Bethkanter.org In 2013, social media will continue the trend of “going visual.” More and more nonprofits are adding data visualization to compelling story telling to create amazing infographics as part their marketing tool kits. For a quick primer on infographics, see “Five Infographics To Master Infographics in Five Minutes.” If you have decided that your nonprofit going to go visual in 2013, figure out your goal. Infographics can be used in different and creative ways and some obvious ones such as marketing messaging, educating about a social issue, to celebrate a successful campaign, to report to stakeholders on key performance metrics, an annual report, and even a marriage proposal!

From the article "5 Tech Trends You Can't Afford to Ignore" by Eric Markowitz in Inc.com Silicon Valley was aflutter this week with Mary Meeker's bold new report on Internet trends. Here's what you missed. When Mary Meeker speaks, the Valley listens. This week, Meeker, a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (the venture firm founded in 1972 that's invested in pretty much every major tech company of the last quarter century) unveiled her 88-page analysis of Web, mobile, technology, and societal trends. Here, we've excerpted the most important elements of the report, especially trends that may affect small business and startups.

Winspire Winnie participates in Nonprofit Jeopardy By Vicki Blaze on Yahoo Voices TV game shows have been a huge success for many years, dating back to the 1970's and 80's with The Price is Right, Jeopardy, and Family Feud. More recent crazes include Do You Want To Be A Millionaire, Deal or No Deal, and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader. All of these game shows have a few things in common - contestants, a host, prizes, challenges, anticipation, and humor. A game show event makes a great fundraiser or simply a school spirit event. Here are some tips to plan an evening where people can laugh out loud with their friends, family, teachers, and principal.

By Katya Andresen on her blog NonprofitMarketingBlog.com I got the following email today from one of my blog readers, John Scott Foster of the Wesselman Nature Society. I had an experience this weekend I thought you might be interested in. I attended two “gala” type events. One was the standard, at a conference center. Held from 6 to 8:30. Coat and tie. Arrive at 6, cash bar, sit at a table at 7. People say nice things. You eat. People say nice things. Silent auction. Then at the end of the silent auction, we are thanked for coming/supporting and told we can all stay and dance to the DJ selection. 3/4ths of the people run out the door, happy to have that obligation over.