It’s certainly not the only service of its type, but the relatively new Crowdwise.com — founded in part by actor Ed Norton — was profiled in Sunday’s New York Times.   He and his partners do seem to have at least a basic grasp on individual fundraising:

He knows that a majority of people who now donate to charity don’t do so online; they write checks. But he and his partners contend that Crowdrise, with its mix of edginess, silliness and good-humored competition, can change that habit, especially for young people.

But the important thing is that the focus here — with its ability for donors to have personal pages — is on the viral potential of philanthropy.  The article is a quick and interesting read.

CBA will be attending and exhibiting at the American Library Association 2010 Annual Conference in Washington D.C. next week from June 24-29. Information about the event can be found on the ALA’s website here. Please stop by our booth #3957 — we hope to see you there.

As part of the conference, we’ll also be hosting a “High Tea” on Monday the 28th at 2:00pm at the Morrison  Clark Inn, 1015 L Street NW — just steps from the Convention Center.  Not only will we be serving free sandwiches and sweets but we’ll also be discussing and demonstrating how individual giving can build reliable revenues for your library for years to come.

Please RSVP for our “High Tea” by clicking here.

One more thing about the $50 million raised via text messaging after the Haitian earthquake:  Convio’s survey stressed the generational differences between those who texted (or who considered it) and those that gave some other way.  They found that while 77% of US donors were aware of the Haiti text-to-donate efforts, 17% of Millennial respondents and 14% of Gen Xers said they actually made a donation using text message, while only 3% of Boomer and Mature respondents did.

While it is a compelling storyline that younger people are giving, especially since — as Vinay says — non-profits have already “optimized fundraising with seniors,” what would be of more interest to me is how long these people will stick around.  (Read on …)

Convio released a study yesterday (summarized neatly on USA Today’s “Kindness” blog) about the frenzy of mobile philanthropy or texts-to-donate that happened around the Haiti earthquake.  At least $50 million was raised this way, from about 6.5 million people.

My first reaction when it was happened was that this was the tipping point for this not-so-new way to give.  (Read on …)

Thanks, DMA Nonprofit Federation, for passing along this article from Politco’s Ben Smith about how President Obama’s proposed budget affects non-profits.  A proposal in Obama’s 2009 budget that would reduce the value of deductions such as mortgage interest and charitable contributions for people in the highest tax brackets was widely assumed by many from all over the political spectrum to result in lower contributions to non-profits from the affected populations.  And as a result, the proposal was killed in the House.

But now, it’s back.  (Read on …)

Our Director of Database Marketing & Analysis, Maciej Przybylowski, handed me a great article from the Wall Street Journal this morning that, while somewhat negative about the future of nonprofits, speaks to the need for organizations to become more efficient if they are going to survive this recession.  Of course, the stories of those that haven’t made it are often heart-rending, especially if they work in feeding the hungry, sheltering the homeless or paying for the education of inner-city youth.

But looking at this from a solely business perspective, maybe there are just too many non-profits right now.  (Read on …)

One of the hallmarks of today’s philanthropy is the  watchdog-like quality held by many donors to use how an organization spends its money as a criteria for support.  Often they decide whether or not to support an organization at all  based solely on the ratio of money spent on non-mission related activities.

This is partly inspired by the easy access to information the internet has brought us.  And of course the biggest source of this kind of information beyond the IRS’ database of Form 990s is “Charity Navigator” who’ve made a whole industry of its rating system.  The fate of non-profits often rests in their hands.  And why shouldn’t donors have that kind of information?  Seems fair.  But is it the best way? (Read on …)

In his recent New York Times article, Op-Ed columnist, Nicholas D. Kristoff presents us with two types of people. One who seems to “have it all”; good looks, wealth, a great job, freedom to travel, etc. The other has a more modest life, yet devotes a portion of their life to helping others, giving to charities.

Most people would think that the person “with it all” would be happier but research shows “giving” brings oneself pleasure similar to that of food and even sex. As it turns out, helping others is one of the most selfish things you can do.

Click here to read the entire article.

Presented by Luke Vander Linden, Vice President, Integrated Marketing Services

Date: January 14, 2010

Topics covered:

• Individual giving – the creative process, list marketing for acquisition, renewal and special appeal strategies.
• The economics of building individual public support, such as short- and long-term value analyses, projecting, ROI and budgeting.
• Single Voice™ integrated marketing – coordinated mail, phone, email, online and social media – to unlock fundraising potential in active donors and prospects.

Questions about CBA’s National Public Library Direct Marketing Consortium? Contact either:

Carrie Bloom – (914) 468-8931 or email or Luke Vander Linden – (914) 468-8942 or email.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal featured an opinion piece by Pablo Eisenberg that took foundations to task for how they support and work with non-profits.  In it, he decried many things in a list of recommendations, but notably the decrease in funding foundations are providing organizations in these troubled economic times.

What stuck out to me was how that is such a good reason for non-profits to have diverse sources of funding.  Too many groups – especially small ones – are either so reliant on a handful of major gifts (including from foundations) or have a full-time staffer dedicated to filling out mountains of foundation grant requests – usually without much success – yet haven’t even thought of an individual giving program. (Read on …)