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Origin Story The original use of the term “blended gifts” can be found in a presentation Robert Sharpe Jr. made at the Partners in Philanthropic Giving national conference in Anaheim in 1995. As the focal point of the presentation entitled “How Will the Baby Boomers Boom?”, he noted that the first baby boomers were approaching …Read More
As reported in Giving USA, the Fundraising Effectiveness Project and other studies, total charitable giving in America was down in 2022. The most recent Fundraising Effectiveness Project report for the first quarter of 2023 indicates that many of the conditions impacting charitable giving last year continued into 2023. As fundraisers, this news is probably not …Read More
In a perfect world, every piece of snail mail and email you send would be going to your most committed and receptive prospects. While this may seem impossible to achieve, there are some tried-and-true steps you can take to ensure you are making the most of every marketing dollar. Step 1: Know Your Donors. …Read More
A few weeks ago, I had a very interesting interaction outside of work that reinforces Sharpe Group’s philosophy of the importance of relationship building with long-term donors. After learning how we work closely with nonprofit organizations, my new acquaintance explained that she recently had an unpleasant experience with one of her favorite charities. She was …Read More
Planned Gift Defined: planned gift /’plænd gift/ n. A planned gift is any gift of any kind for any amount given for any purpose—operations, capital expansion or endowment—whether given currently or deferred, if the assistance of a professional staff person, qualified volunteer or the donor’s advisors is necessary to complete the gift. In addition, it …Read More
By John Ryan The art of planned gift marketing can best be described as determining how to communicate with your donors in the most appropriate manner at the most opportune time. Popular communication methods include using print, digital, text and even video to show your donors how their gifts make an impact. Take the following …Read More
By Austin Chappell There has been a great deal of discussion about the Secure Act 2.0 and the potential impact that it will have on the nonprofit sector. To quickly recap: The Secure Act 2.0 raised the age for RMDs to age 73. For those born in 1960 or later, their RMD will begin at …Read More
“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” -Karen Lamb Endowments of all sizes experienced negative returns through the end of 2022, and it looks like this trend may continue. Endowments with less than $25 million in assets have been hit the hardest, with losses in excess of 11.5%. Larger endowments are …Read More
From August 1972 Give & Take: “A donor usually considers a current gift to your institution as a cash outlay now. To make a deferred gift, a person decides to give at some future date, either a number of years from now or at death. A deferred gift is a present decision to make a …Read More
By Ashley McHugh “Every great love starts with a great story … ” ― Nicholas Sparks, “The Notebook” If you haven’t read “The Notebook,” you may have seen the movie. I’ll confess I’ve done both … more than a few times. It’s a compelling story told in an engaging way. Good storytelling can …Read More