Your nonprofit relies on donations from individual donors. And, chances are, you're a donor to other nonprofits as well. Do you pay attention to how different organizations thank you when you make a donation? I sure do. Recently, I made modest, but equal, gifts to a dozen nonprofits. What happened next inspired this post. (read more)

For a lot of nonprofits, June 30 marks the end of the fiscal year. Most nonprofits use their bottom line as the primary measure of success. And many will use it as the only way to measure the success of their fundraising program. The thing is, meeting your budget numbers shouldn't be your only fundraising goal. (read more)

There's more to grant writing than just "writing." A lot more. At its core, grant writing has three steps that I call the 3Rs: Research, wRiting, and Review. In a previous post, I shared the importance of doing your research before starting to write a grant. This post will offer tips on reviewing what you write, before you submit your proposal to a foundation. (read more)

PowerPoint presentations are a staple at most conferences. And as the title of this post suggests, PowerPoint seems to be here for good - or at least for the foreseeable future. If you're a trainer, and you use PowerPoint, you need to learn to use well, so you can help people learn. (read more)

Here's a secret: there's more to grant writing than just "writing." A lot more. Successful grant writing always starts with thorough research, and it ends with a thoughtful review. This post focuses on research - the most overlooked part of grant writing. (read more)

Unless you're an accountant, you probably don't like tax forms. But if you're a nonprofit (and especially if you're a grant seeker), you should love them. That's because tax forms - specifically the 990-PF - are a terrific, free research tool. Tax forms are a treasure trove of information. You can learn about a foundation's giving guidelines, how much they give, who they've given to recently, and so much more. (read more)