Has all the recent news about how to measure nonprofit effectiveness left your charity confused? The Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation, a national association of charities and their direct marketers, thinks it has the answer – a set of fundraising principles. The Federation based these principles on how it believes “legitimate” charities conduct fundraising. It …
Posts Categorized: Fundraising
How do You Measure a Nonprofit's Effectiveness?
Earlier this week, we blogged about a letter from three prominent organizations strongly refuting the use of overhead costs to measure a nonprofit’s effectiveness. But, in seemingly direct contradiction to this letter, a new Oregon law requires that nonprofits spend no less than 30% of their total annual expenses on charitable programs. Worst of all, …
Nonprofit Grading System Based on Overhead Cost a Thing of the Past?
Is looking at a nonprofit’s overhead costs a good measure of its effectiveness? The leaders of three leading sources of nonprofit information – GuideStar, Charity Navigator, and BBB Wise Giving Alliance – recently wrote an open letter answering this question with a resounding NO. The letter reasons that focusing solely or predominantly on overhead(the expenses …
NY AG Spearheads Heightened Political Disclosure Requirements
Last year, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman unveiled a plan to “revitalize” New York’s nonprofit sector. We told you about it here. This year, he has a new focus – 501(c)(4) “social welfare” organizations. This isn’t too surprising given the press these organizations have received lately, but the high level of transparency the AG’s …
America's Most Wanted: Charities Edition
The Tampa Bay Times recently ran a series on what it and The Center for Investigative Reporting describe as the nation’s 50 worst charities. These include nonprofits whose fundraisers earn up to 98% of every dollar earned and whose insiders make millions of dollars per year. The articles also admonish charity regulators for not doing …
Google Tests a New Giving App
Do you think Google can change the world one $1 donation at a time? It’s trying to do just that with One Today, its new mobile application that enables people to contribute $1 to any highlighted charitable project of their choice. The app features a different project every day and allows donors to share their …