By Tim Ardillo, consultant, Johnson, Grossnickle and Associates Did you know development programs that rely solely on transactional giving, like direct mail and special events, generally have a return of investment (ROI) of about 200 percent, while programs that are relationship-based and major gift focused can enjoy a much higher ROI of 500 percent or […]
By Jessica Love, associate executive director, Prosperity Indiana Generally, nonprofits are established to make a difference for the people or places they serve. As a result, the impact and outcomes are inherent in the work. But these days, meeting an individual or community need is generally not good enough for a nonprofit to thrive, or […]
By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors In the 1980s, Liverpool, England started an experiment. The city worked with young people to improve areas that had been neglected. After seeing some success, Groundwork UK was established by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher to promote local partnerships that could rebuild Britain’s bypassed urban communities through community-led strategies. Its […]
By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors Most teenagers don’t sit around talking about invasive plants and medicinal herbs or brownfields. But at least a half dozen area teenagers are the exception. Isaac, 15, Adarin, 16, Nashawn, 16, Randie, 16, Aliza, 15, and De’Shawn, 19, spend Saturday mornings researching and learning more about these topics, while […]
By Jen Pendleton, vice president Indiana, Aly Sterling Launching a capital campaign is like moving into a new home. If you want the transition to your new home to run smoothly, you’ll need to plan ahead. The same can be said of capital campaigns; a lot of preparation goes into a capital campaign so that your nonprofit […]
By William Foster and Alison Powell for Harvard Business Review In his recent Harvard Law Review opus, President Barack Obama highlighted the yawning opportunity for leaders on both sides of the political aisle to repair the criminal justice system, in part by changing sentencing laws and ending the “school-to-prison pipeline.” Despite the economic and social […]
By Laura Pappano, author for The New York Times On a late-autumn Sunday, a bus pulled out of El Paso at 3 a.m. carrying 52 sleepy students and parents from western Texas and New Mexico. A few had already driven several hours to get to El Paso. The bus arrived at Texas A&M 12 hours […]
By Jeffrey J. Selingo, author, for The New York Times When the German engineering company Siemens Energy opened a gas turbine production plant in Charlotte, N.C., some 10,000 people showed up at a job fair for 800 positions. But fewer than 15 percent of the applicants were able to pass a reading, writing and math-screening […]