Andrew Gray

Can you imagine a Form 990 that looked like a billboard or some other type of advertisement? It would be colorful, stand out, and catch your attention.  Most good advertisements draw you in to take a second look or maybe a third. One statement we can make for certain: you’d prefer to have donors take a second look at your 990 and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to take as few as possible.

Consider these five reasons to take a second look at your Form 990 and make it as vibrant as you possibly can.

1.      Marketing Opportunities

With charity-evaluating websites forming and growing with every day, it’s no wonder so many donors and stakeholders are reviewing the publicly disclosed Form 990. One website has over 6.2 million views in 2012 alone. That being said, the 990 has many opportunities for you to tout the accomplishments of your organization.  It all starts with page one and each page has an opportunity for you.  Review your return carefully for these chances to make your organization shine. Fill every space that you can!

2.      Governance Check

Use your Form 990 as a governance check for your organization. Take notice of the questions which you answer “NO” to and see what it would take for you to implement the change. Sometimes I notice that an organization doesn’t have a conflict of interest policy. So I will always tell my clients that this is a simple change to make – create a conflict of interest policy.  This is a chance to improve your organization and show donors that proper governance is a priority.  And believe it or not, donors and charity-rating websites take notice of each and every question.

3.      IRS Red Flags

The IRS is scrutinizing tax exempt organizations now more than ever. It’s for certain that the scrutiny will only increase with additional compliance requirements and tools the IRS can use to detect organizations that may not be compliant. You may be thinking that your organization is totally compliant and has no wrongdoing going on. That’s great, but one question on the Form 990 may cause your organization’s tax return to be reviewed or further examined by the IRS. As with any IRS examination, the costs are high while enduring them. Avoid an IRS exam by reviewing your 990 thoroughly.

Check out this GuideStar article for more information on IRS scrutiny: http://www.guidestar.org/rxa/news/articles/2012/insights-from-irs-on-nonprofits.aspx

4.      Appropriate Allocations

Always check to make sure your allocations between program services, management, and fundraising are reasonable. When I review a tax return I pay special attention to payroll allocations. Your officers, management, and staff will all be doing different tasks. In fact, one of my clients takes each employee’s function separately when determining allocations.  Keep your employees involved in the process and this will generate very accurate payroll allocations.

5.      Does the Return Make Sense? If not, explain it.

It’s certainly no surprise that not every form the IRS issues makes sense to a business owner or nonprofit leader.  The Form 990 has many different spaces for you to explain anything that doesn’t seem right.  Allow me to share two instances that I’ve run into already this year. One item related to compensation. The CEO left the organization mid year so the CFO had compensation that exceeded the CEO. I recommended that my client explain it on Schedule O. We inserted the CEO’s period of employment and clarified any skepticism from donors or other stakeholders.  Another instance related to an explanation as to the financial health of a program service. We beefed up the description to show other metrics which spoke to the vibrancy of that program service.  Take your time and explain anything that may cause questions from donors or stakeholders.

If your donors take a second look and the IRS doesn’t, your nonprofit wins.  So let me ask you one question: will you take a second look at your Form 990 today to position your nonprofit for success?

The above is a guest post by Andrew J. Gray, a CPA in the Tax Services Department of Daszkal Bolton LLP, based in the firm’s Jupiter, FL, office. His tax practice focuses on public charities and providing tax compliance and planning services for these clients. He is passionate about serving the nonprofit sector. Andrew also assists individuals and small to medium size business clients with tax planning and compliance. Andrew received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Miami University in Ohio. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.  Andrew is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant through the State of Ohio, and he is a member of the Ohio Society of CPAs. You can reach Andrew at agray@daszkalbolton.com.

These days, Big Data is all the rage. You can’t swing a stick in a coffee shop without hitting a journalist or blogger writing about the potential – and pitfalls – of drawing insights from the unprecedented volume of data being produced every second of every day. Organizations of all kinds are being urged to make the most of this new resource to better target and tailor their work.

But for a resource-strapped nonprofit, taking on data analytics can seem to be a monumental challenge. Financial concerns are paramount: with the field of data analytics booming and salaries skyrocketing, attracting top-tier talent can take massive financial resources from organizations that may already be forced to make sacrifices just to operate. Second is the problem of understanding: without prior experience, it can be difficult to know what, if any, insights data can generate that would empower your organization to better achieve its mission.

Luckily, both problems are easily solvable. Your nonprofit can recruit passionate students from around the world seeking real-world experience – for free – through a new massively open online course, the University of Washington’s Introduction to Data Science. Organizations can post projects ranging from data visualization to predictive modeling and more. Not sure how you could benefit? Here are some tips on how your organization can learn – and grow – from data:

1.     Don’t worry about getting technical – instead, think of where you need help and what questions you want answered.

Free resources like Introduction to Data Science mean that you don’t need to worry about the technicalities, like how to use (or pronounce) data software solutions like Hadoop. Instead, you’re free to focus on asking guiding questions and letting students handle the rest.

First, figure out where you’d like your organization to gain additional insights. Data analysis can help with anything from publicity / marketing to human resources to gauging impact – it just takes a well-framed question or two. Here are some examples:

• Which pieces of our web content have most boosted our online presence (social media followers, Google searches, site traffic) and why?
• Which of our social media posts have seen the most engagement from followers? What characterizes these posts (e.g. timing, length, subject)?
• How can we best present the statistics that inform our mission and demonstrate the urgency of our work?
• Given the demographics and other (anonymized) information about our clients, can you predict which ones will be impacted by our services the most?
• What is the profile of the ideal hire / partner / consultant for our organization?
• How do the measurable indicators of our impact compare to those of other organizations working with similar clients?
• Based on previous grants we’ve received, why do certain foundations tend to support our work?

2.     Consider what you could learn from public datasets.

A common misconception among nonprofits is that organizations need to have their own internal store of data to benefit from analytics support. However, there are thousands of powerful datasets available online from research institutions, free of charge; moreover, in the age of the web and social media, data pulled from social networks or your own web traffic can generate extraordinary insights about your reach. Here are a few examples:

• Twitter and Facebook both have APIs – application programming interfaces – that allow developers to pull data and analyze data from public feeds.
• There are several unofficial APIs for Google Trends, a public tool that examines Google search volume over time for a given term and offers the chance to drill down by language, location, and more.
• The powerful Google Analytics API, when partnered with metadata from your website, can help discern patterns in web traffic, allowing you to better target your content to your anticipated audience.
• The World Bank has a massive volume of datasets on a wide variety of international development-related topics.
• Pew Research, a leading nonpartisan research and polling firm, has thousands of historical datasets from U.S. political surveys available for analysis.
• Google has a listing of hundreds of additional publicly available datasets from governments, research institutions, and more.

3.     Don’t stress about “Big Data” – focus on your own organization’s context.

The notion of “Big Data” can be overwhelming at times. With 2.5 quintillion bytes of data (and counting!) being generated every day, who has time to attempt to sift through it and separate the signal from the noise?

Truth be told, to benefit from data analytics, your organization doesn’t need to worry about conjuring up a massive internal dataset, nor must it seek answers from unwieldy public datasets. Instead, focus on finding the information you need to answer the specific questions you’re asking.

In a blog post for the Harvard Business Review, GuideStar’s own Jacob Harold calls “medium data” – information specific to your organization’s work and its field – a necessary precursor to “going big.” He’s right: for most organizations, more modest, targeted datasets can provide extraordinarily valuable insights. Depending on your needs, external data can also serve as a “training set” to develop overarching models that can then draw more specific insights using smaller internal datasets.

–

Still unsure how data can help your organization? Post in the comments and we’ll brainstorm with you! Don’t miss the opportunity to recruit students for free data analytics support – sign up for Introduction to Data Science today to gain insights that could supercharge your impact.

Amit Jain

Amit Jain is the lead researcher and marketing director at Coursolve, which connects academic courses to organizations to empower students to solve real-world problems. He is also an associate teacher of middle school math and science at a charter school in Boston, MA.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Today Facebook, Twitter, online news, television and radio will no doubt continue to populate with images and stories that make our hearts long to help after yesterday’s tornado in Oklahoma.

Like The Boston Foundation, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation is also one of the sixteen GuideStar DonorEdge communities using its version of The Giving Partner, GiveSmartOKC, to inform donors about choices for giving.

We know you want to reach those who really need your help. We encourage you to thoroughly check out any organization before making a contribution. When emotions are running the show, it’s easy to forget that scams and ineffective programs are around.

At this time, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation recommends supporting American Red Cross, Central and Western Oklahoma Region or the Salvation Army of Central Oklahoma.

We know that giving is always very personal.

You may want to help a particular group such as displaced pets or emergency service volunteers. Perhaps you want to wait and see if special funds are set up in the near future. Whatever is near and dear to you, take some time to investigate before you give.

Now, we know what a caring community we live in. Our colleagues from the Oklahoma City Community Foundation will be here in Sarasota next week for the GuideStar DonorEdge annual conference. What can we do to give them an especially warm welcome?

The preceding is a cross-post  on the Giving Partner Blog by the Community Foundation of Sarasota, GuideStar DonorEdge Learning Community member and host of next week’s DonorEdge Learning Community 2013 Annual Meeting. You can read the original post here.

Congratulations to GuideStar’s newest DonorEdge customer, Sacramento Region Community Foundation (SRCF), on the successful launch of their local version of GuideStar DonorEdge, The Giving Edge, and Arts Day of Giving on April 29! The launch and giving event was a first in several exciting ways:

• The Giving Edge launched to the public in only 60 days!
  • This ground-breaking launch was made possible by innovative new GuideStar DonorEdge technology, shared knowledge and expertise of the DonorEdge Learning Community, and dedicated SRCF staff and partners.
  • The Arts Day of Giving raised more than $500,000 for the Sacramento region community in 24 hours!
    • It was Sacramento’s first ever regional online giving event.
    • A 2011 study found that Sacramento residents:
      • are less likely to give than the national average
      • who do give, give below the national average
      • only 63% of giving is local
• 70 local arts nonprofits shared their stories through their Giving Edge profiles
  • A $1,000 prize was awarded to the nonprofit receiving the most unique visits to their Giving Edge profile during the 24-hour period.

These first-ever milestones achieved by SRCF and its partners set the stage for pivotal change, long-term impact of increasing community philanthropy, and improving the quality of life in the Sacramento region community. The Giving Edge is ultimately about engaging the Sacramento region in charitable giving, inspiring philanthropy at all levels, providing nonprofits an opportunity to showcase their critical contribution to community and society, and empowering donors to make informed decisions about their charitable giving.

Congratulations to our partners in Sacramento!

Lori Larson

If you are interested in learning more about DonorEdge or the DonorEdge Learning Community, please contact Lori Larson, senior director GuideStar DonorEdge, llarson@guidestar.org.

Lori Larson is senior director of GuideStar DonorEdge. Lori leads GuideStar’s market and product strategy for DonorEdge and is responsible for customer account management of the DonorEdge Learning Community. Prior to joining GuideStar, Lori worked for the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, with her most recent position being director of knowledge development. Previous to her foundation and nonprofit sector work, Lori was the operations manager of a multi-entity oil and gas corporation in Houston, Texas, and was assistant publisher of a software company in Shreveport, Louisiana.

New and improved GuideStar Exchange form

If you aren’t yet familiar with the GuideStar Exchange, it is a program designed for nonprofits wanting to better connect with donors, funders, and other stakeholders by encouraging transparency through information sharing. The program operates and grows from self-reported information submitted by nonprofits and is shared with a variety of GuideStar partners. Participants in the GuideStar Exchange access a variety of benefits, including the ability to display the GuideStar Exchange Seal on their websites and collateral materials, promote their participation, and access discounted fundraising products and services.

The GuideStar Exchange interface was refined to make this information sharing faster and much less burdensome – something our GuideStar Exchange participants have communicated is important.

Our new interface gives you the ability to skip between sections easily, save progress, and return to update later. This also means fewer fields to complete – only 8 key sections, down from 18. These sections include:

• General information (e-mail, website and physical address, and contact information)
• Financials
• Officer and director information
• Mission and programs
• Additional documentation
• Impact information
• Review updates and changes
• Confirm and submit

We encourage working as a team and hope this process will be make it easier to collaborate with others at your organization and gather the right information at the convenience of appropriate internal stakeholders.

Screen grab of GuideStar’s own GuideStar Exchange form

This initial update serves as our first step in creating a standard for nonprofit information collection across the nonprofit sector. We want nonprofits to be able to share up-to-date, comprehensive, and accurate information with donors, funders, and others wherever those audiences are searching for it. Soon, the data collected from you through our GuideStar Exchange program will be distributed to even more partners across the Web (including grant management platforms to streamline the grant application process) and will allow you to use these third-party websites to keep your GuideStar Exchange profiles up-to-date.

This is just the beginning of the exciting changes we have in store for the GuideStar Exchange! Learn more about the revamp of our GuideStar Exchange program here: http://npo.gs/guidestarexchange1.

Diana Hand

For those of you who have participated in the GuideStar Exchange program, what have you found to be the most beneficial part of the program so far?  For those of you who haven’t, do you think this may help you get started? Let me know in the comments below!

Bruce Keenan

It’s a fact: we love our members. We want to take the time to recognize the incredibly passionate and diverse group of individuals that comprise our membership, so I’m thrilled to introduce you all to one of our founding members, Bruce Keenan, president of Himalayan Children’s Charities (HCC).

I asked Bruce a series of questions about himself, his work, and how being a GuideStar member has advanced his work, which he answered below and on our member spotlight page:

1. How has being a GuideStar member helped you?  It helps with immediate credibility, establishing who we are at a quality level, which in turn creates a better level of listening from whomever we are presenting to.

2. If you could give one tip to help nonprofit professionals learn to be more effective and efficient, what would it be and why? Keep it simple and to treat people the way you want to be treated. When we fundraise for HCC, we think about the amount of information we are throwing at people and try to be judicious with what we send out.  We try and be relevant to them and to also, whenever possible, to reach out in a personal way to each donor.   In large organizations that is hard, but the more we can do it, the better response we get from our donor base. 

HCC is making a difference in the lives of these kids in Nepal

3. What has been the most surprising thing about working with vulnerable children in the Himalayan region? That is a great question.  I guess it is the gratitude that these kids express that really touches my heart.  They do not have much, again they were either abandoned or orphaned, but whatever small amount of things they have, they are grateful for and especially for the opportunity for a good education.   We have been doing this for 14 years and have seen our younger children grow up to be productive adults and they never hesitate to help other children that could use assistance or are in need. The surprises in the development of our students keep on coming.

Read more from Bruce here.

Membership at GuideStar is about more than benefits and incentives. It’s about supporting the free service that we offer to 98 percent of our online visitors. It’s about giving nonprofits a platform to reach out to millions of new donors and funders, and offering donors a breadth of information from which to make responsible giving decisions. Most importantly, we’re working together to connect people with the causes they care about, to help drive dollars and resources to high-performing nonprofits that are working to make a difference.

Won’t you join us? I’d love to hear from you – email me any time at jtaylor@guidestar.org.

Universities and colleges are offering not only Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in nonprofit education, but also executive training with a how-to college guide for nonprofit managers. These advanced online training courses can help accelerate a nonprofit director’s career path with deliverable results to their sponsoring organization.

Local Training Sessions

Opportunities exist to advance practical knowledge in critical areas of nonprofit work. Local universities in major markets offer a variety of courses that deliver training for managing a nonprofit organization (i.e. Resource Development for nonprofits, Financial Management in Nonprofits, etc.)

Others courses are more detailed in their mission, teaching recruiting effective Board members, using strategic video and social media, and incorporating elements of Web-enabled fundraising. Go local, and find career development opportunities through your local nonprofit associations and local universities in your own region.

Conferences For Training

Conferences fall under the same rubric of continuing education. This fall’s Blackbaud Conference for Nonprofits is one of the major career and professional development events for nonprofit pros. Some of the most respected professionals attend the show every year, offering up a wealth of insights at seminars, breakout sessions and more.

More than 2,000 people attended the conference last year. This year’s BBCon 2013 show will feature more than 150 training and knowledge sessions, intermixed with the best career networking for nonprofit professionals.

But you don’t have to wait until the conference to start learning: Blackbaud’s site offers  tools and training for nonprofit professionals, technology tips and its own knowledge sessions for members. Start researching the best courses and training at the site for your own particular purposes and programs.

National and Online

On a nationwide basis, the groups listed below offer terrific opportunities and resources for nonprofit professionals to move their careers forward.

The Foundation Center: Based in New York, The Foundation Center acts as a think-tank and research center, offering resources in continuing development for nonprofit pros. It also pulls together ideas, programs and more from its global network for many nonprofit activities.

The Foundation Center connects people who are working to increase the goals of philanthropy and its recipients. Nonprofit professionals can browse the Foundation Center’s database and assess needs for people, data, training and analytics with global projects, grants and more. The center also offers online training courses. Participants can register for essentials like:

• Grant seeking for Individuals
• Grant seeking for Nonprofit Organizations
• Proposal Writing: The Comprehensive Course

The organization claims its daily website traffic consists of thousand of visitors looking for increased training and development for real-world nonprofit applications.

The Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington: Another group offering professional development insights is The Nonprofit Roundtable. This group helps many associations, universities and other organizations in our nation’s capitol region find training, education and advanced learning programs.

Included at The Nonprofit Roundatable’s site are listings for classes and training with a wide range of nonprofit organizations for different experience levels: beginner nonprofit pros, staffers with 3-5 years experience and those with five or more years of nonprofit experience.

The Young Nonprofit Professional Network: With more than 20 national chapters and 20,000 members, the Young Nonprofit Professional Network (YNPN) offers to its members a variety of low-cost or free opportunities. Sharing info about so-called ‘un-conferences’, offering tips to young nonprofit pros, and finding opportunities outside the mainstream of the nonprofit world are some of the traits of the YNPN organization.

Alana Bender

The above is a guest post by Alana Bender. After receiving her Computer Science degree in NorCal, Alana’s interest in writing about technology took over when she began freelancing for various blogs and publications. Aside from writing, Alana has a special love for the beach and anything Apple.

Tom Pollak

• guide you through schedules and statements;
• check your arithmetic as you go;
• offers context-specific help with navigating the website; and
• allow you to save your forms as PDF files or print them for submission.

You can also complete select state forms (New York, Michigan and Hawaii) for free.

The web site is free for organizations with less than $100,000 in gross receipts and modest sliding fees for larger organizations.  View the complete fee schedule.
 
Ready to get started?
 
Proceed to the NCCS Form 990 Online web site
Watch a brief Introduction video

Do you have questions?
 
The NCCS Form 990 Online Team is available to take your questions and offer assistance:

Email the team:  efiletechsupport@urban.org
 
Or call the team toll-free: 888-666-1773.

The preceding is a guest post by Tom Pollak, program director of the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics.

Cost Cutting Ideas: I am sure if you ask your internal employees if there are ways that costs could be cut, there would be many thoughts that would come your way.  Even if only one or two can be successfully implemented out of the many suggestions that get submitted, it will be well worth the effort and your employees will feel a sense of inclusion in decision making.  It could be that getting your office supplies locally is far less expensive than using an online vendor, or buying your office hardware would save you in the long run rather than renting the equipment on a monthly basis.

Software Ideas: So many of us use software that we know of, read about, or have used in our own departments that could be relevant to the whole organization.  Employees should have a venue to share how they use specific software, which may lead to others more fully utilizing those tools within their department.  Of course not all software or tools can be implemented, but there could be a particular software or tool that an employee has experience using in the past that would benefit your nonprofit.  For example Google Analytics for Nonprofits, Wufoo, Grasshopper, or MailChimp to name a few.

Product or Service Ideas: This is one of the best topics to ask employees about.  An employee might have a wonderful idea that was never considered, but could actually be a viable service or resource that could spark a great potential for your organization.  For example, there could be something your nonprofit does or has that your audience base could benefit from.  Do you have a great office space that could be rented out to nonprofits to hold events or conferences?  Does your nonprofit have a proven skill set in social media or webinar hosting that other nonprofits could benefit from? This “one” idea from “Joe” could create a new revenue stream and/or create a new market for your organization.

Employees can sometimes feel intimidated when it comes to sharing their ideas, and nonprofits need to remove the internal barriers and allow the ideas to flow freely within our departments.

At the end of the day, collaboration and sharing ideas among employees leads to cost savings, strengthened programs, improved efficiencies, and improved value propositions for your organizations.  Your internal employees can be your most valued resource, if you take the time to ask them what they think!

How do you tap your team’s potential? Let me know in the comments below!

Usma Ziard

Usma Ziard is GuideStar’s senior marketing director.

You will want to meet with all major gifts prospects, regardless of whether you already have a good relationship with them (board members and other volunteers), as well as those you need to meet for the first time.

Don’t rely on other types of cultivation activities, such as tours of the organization, and fundraising or programmatic events, to build relationships with your donors. Good relationships can’t be built in a group setting.

Pick Up the Phone to Schedule a Pre-Ask Meeting

Sometimes picking up the phone to schedule a meeting with prospective donors can be the scariest part. Many development directors prefer to send a “pre-call” letter, especially if you don’t know the prospective donors, to introduce yourself and let them know that you will call to schedule an appointment.

These days, you can also send an email “letter of introduction.”

However, whether or not you send a letter first, you still need to pick up the phone to schedule an appointment. It’s important to speak with the potential donor.

Fielding Objections to a Pre-Ask Meeting

Be prepared for reasons not to meet from both people you know and those you don’t. Here are some common ones (and feel free to share others, and your response to them in the comments):

• I’m too busy and I don’t have time to meet. Let’s meet by phone.
• What’s the purpose of this meeting? Can you send me something in the mail?

Your goal is to get a face-to-face meeting. You’re unlikely to get a major gift if you can’t even secure a meeting in person. How many responses can you come up with to rebut these rejections?

It actually may be more difficult to get a meeting with a board member than a complete stranger. They may think they see you all the time, when in reality, you have not ever seen them in a non-group setting. Do you know how they feel about your organization? What about serving on your board? Do you know why they got involved in the first place, and why they stay involved?

Have they ever been asked, in person, for a major gift? If you can’t practice on your board members, it will be much harder to ask people who are less involved.

Why Meet Face-to-Face With Donors?

There’s an expression in fundraising: If you ask for money, you get advice, and if you ask for advice, you get money.

The purpose of your meeting is multipronged:

1. To get one step closer to a major gift.
2. To build a relationship between the prospect and your organization.
3. To learn more about the prospective donor, their resources, and how philanthropic they are.
4. To update the prospect on your program and talk about the gaps in service and need.
5. To personally thank the prospect for their history of giving/involvement with the organization.

The primary goal of this meeting is to be one significant step closer to asking for a major gift, and it is your responsibility to move the conversation in that direction.

Ask open-ended questions about how the prospect would be interested in seeing your organization grow. How might they like to get involved? Would they be open to supporting the organization in more significant ways?

Where Should You Meet Prospective Donors?

The best place for these one-on-one meetings is at the prospect’s home or office. It doesn’t need to be in a restaurant for a meal or even at your office. Hold the meeting where it will be most convenient for the prospect.

Who Should Attend Your Pre-Ask Meeting?

Ideally, this meeting should be with a board member and a staff member (the ED or DOD). Executive Directors should go to meet with BIG major gifts prospects, and other staff members can meet with lower level prospects. Board members should go whenever possible, especially if they have an existing relationship with the prospect.

What Should You Bring to Your Pre-Ask Meeting?

You don’t need to bring anything. Sending follow-up materials is a great excuse to stay in contact. Keep the conversation “light” by not having paperwork. If you are more comfortable bringing facts and figures, bring them, but don’t pull them out unless specifically asked.

Attend your meeting knowing what you need the money for and be prepared to discuss it. Do you have a case for support? Are you able to discuss why you need funding?

Do not leave your pre-ask meeting without a follow-up plan.

The follow-up plan MUST get you one step closer to asking for a major gift. If you feel the meeting went well and you’re ready to ask for a major gift, you might say something like:

“I’m so glad we had the opportunity to meet today.

I value your thoughts about our organization and will consider them carefully (if you asked for advice).

I’d like to send you some additional information (if appropriate) as we discussed. And, I’d like to schedule another time (in about a month) to come back and talk with you about how you can support the organization in a more significant way. Would you be open to that type of conversation?”

Action Item of the Week — 2 hours or less

Scheduled in-person appointments with all 20 of your prospective donors.

Prepare for your calls by having responses on-hand in case the prospect is hesitant to meet. You’ll also identify who will attend the meetings (board and/or staff members).

Leave a comment below to share any objections you’ve heard from prospective donors for meeting face-to-face (either in the past or in response to this action item). I read each and every comment — I’m happy to help you come with a rebuttal for any objection.

This is a cross-post by Amy Eisenstein, CFRE, author, speaker, trainer, and owner of Tri Point Fundraising, a full-service consulting firm. You can read the original post here. The post is part of Amy’s Major Gifts Challenge. Read the entire series to learn how to solicit major gifts by spending just a few hours each month, and view her presentation and listen recording of her recent webinar for GuideStar here. Amy is a nonprofit consultant whose fundraising expertise has helped hundreds of local and national organizations. She’s raised millions of dollars through capital campaigns and major gift solicitations. Her “no-nonsense” approach to fundraising yields big results for her clients and followers.