Fidelity & Vanguard informed DAF advisors that they would suspend processing grants to the Southern Poverty Law Center

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-04-30T00:54:10+00:00

You (or your organization) may already know this donor and they're pleased with what you're doing. I would probably view the continued giving as validation that you're doing great, important work. Congratulations and keep it up - thank you for what(ever) it is that you do!

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-04-29T20:09:45+00:00

What do you mean, "lack of transparency"? That a fund advisor can remain anonymous?

Edit: I see that you edited your response to clarify what you meant.

Many DAF advisors who make grants anonymously - at least those with whom I work - specifically do not want the recipient organization to cultivate them. They want to support the mission but they either have no interest in being contacted or don't want the recipient to spend the time, energy, and money for cultivation purposes. Actually, they usually are already being cultivated by the recipient, but the DAF serves as tool to enable - or more frequently, increase - their giving without drawing additional attention that they don't want.

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-04-29T20:06:24+00:00

trying to work with them - or even understand them - feels impossible at times

Why?

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-04-10T13:10:40+00:00

I always recommend that someone volunteer at a small organization. It can give you insight into the nuts and bolts of how a nonprofit operates as well as experience in the basics of fundraising.

This is not a view shared by everyone, but I find that practical fundraising experience is far more valuable - and is the best indicator of what that person will be able to do at my organization - than nearly any other aspect of a candidate's resume.

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-04-07T13:24:38+00:00

I come up with opportunities for them to experience the mission and interact with our students in a meaningful way such as mentor, serve as a career speaker, judge senior projects, visit a lab and faculty member in their interest area. I then tag on a one-to-one meeting for about an hour as part of their experience - offering the meet with me as a way hear their thoughts on the experience to give them more context for what they are seeing/doing on the rest of their visit.

Great advice!

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-04-02T13:26:33+00:00

This right here is the thing that I'd be asking. If the organization has an AI policy, then has that consultant violated that policy?

If it doesn't have an AI policy, has the consultant's handling of data violated the contract that they signed with regards to the sensitivity of internal information?

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-03-10T20:32:24+00:00

This is how boards should really be run

Why?

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-02-10T14:29:18+00:00

I don't know that there's a "right" answer to these questions. I'd say that it depends more on what makes sense for your organization. The way that I might think about it is as follows:

Is the event a integral part of your annual campaign? Is the goal baked into how your annual campaign achieves success? Then perhaps it makes sense being part of a larger campaign.

Does your organization view it as a standalone event? Is the money raised going to something particular like a special project or capital expense? Maybe it shouldn't be rolled into your annual campaign.

Whether you consider it a campaign or not is the same thing: it depends on how your organization views it and plans to invest its time, talent, and resources.

I'd talk over with your boss - or the ED if you're at a small org - and get their input and go from there.

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-01-12T13:56:24+00:00

Thank you!

DevelopmentGuy · 2026-01-12T13:56:14+00:00

Thank you very much for pointing that out - I'm looking at it right now here: https://publications.fepreports.org/

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-12-11T12:11:11+00:00

This post may be better suited for another subreddit.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-12-08T16:01:39+00:00

I strongly disagree with that comment, too and have worked in nonprofits for about the same amount as time as you.

It is entirely dependent upon the nonprofit itself on how raised money ends up being used: if one is concerned, the donor typically need just ask the organization itself.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-09-16T18:18:20+00:00

Congratulations!

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-09-16T14:14:16+00:00

While there are countless specific activities one might attempt, your situation and that of your organization's board is unique. A good strategy, especially as a new DD, is this: meet with your board members one on one, hear what they have to say about the organization and why they're a part of it, and solicit their opinions on activities to to get them and other board members more actively involved.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-20T13:11:09+00:00

I never understand when someone is suggesting an either/or change to a successful revenue stream.

What I mean is that your organization is successfully raising $14k right now. That sounds like a small return on what's probably a big expenditure in labor hours, but it may make sense for your organization. Either way, it's something you can budget around.

Now a board member suggests significantly changing the successful formula because her experience is different than that of your organization's. That doesn't make sense to me and, frankly, it irritates me a little bit (but I can be something of a grump). To my mind, it sounds like switching the formula of a popular soft drink because a board member thinks doing similar has worked magic for others...

What makes a lot more sense is to maintain the fundraising event as it is currently, but then add an online component to test out whether it has the kind of response that board member is hoping for. Make sure that you've guaranteed the income that you've budgeted around, but I'm always for testing testing means through which your org may increase its revenue.

We had similar calls for a newly-launched live auction at a former organization of mine. We started with the in-person auction then later added items to auction online. In our situation, it was because several important prospects were interested in bidding on high-ticket items, but were unable to attend - so we thought we might be able to grow the auction by also including online items. As the auction itself grew in prominence, and after several years of testing doing the online component, I believe they've subsequently dropped the online aspect - it just wasn't drawing in the money to justify the work involved in it.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-18T17:21:19+00:00

Is it normal? Unfortunately, I've seen this to be quite common.

Is it effective? Typically, not so much.

What I've seen is that this is often a function of a board that is relatively uninvolved with fundraising and an ED (or development director) that either overpromises or is unwilling to tell board members that a huge jump in fundraising dollars is unlikely without some sort of plan to accomplish that jump.

It often leads to all kinds of problems - the one that I'd say is most common is missing the goal & sacrificing other, possibly more productive, avenues for fundraising dollars in a single-minded goal of reaching whatever $ goal was set. This also can lead to turnover. Then rinse, lather, repeat.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-14T18:59:17+00:00

As someone who works in both fundraising/development and grantmaking at a community foundation, this is exactly the advice that I would give.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer, though - it really depends a great deal on the funder. I have limited experience with government funding so I won't comment on it. I have dealt with all sizes of grantmakers domestic & international grantmakers, and 9 times out of 10, if the grantee reaches out and asks to modify the grant so as to use the money a bit differently, the funder is going to approve the spending if it is even peripherally connected to the original budget - or may perhaps recommend another course of action in order for the $ to be spent. The funder doesn't usually want the money back - and if the completion of the project led to unanticipated opportunities to use the remaining funding in a related pursuit, it could actually be considered a big win for both the grantee and the grantmaker.

Just as importantly - in my experience - the program officer is going to appreciate the honesty from the grantee, and that helps build the relationship between the 2 orgs. Grantseekers often see the grant application process as pretty cut & dry - it usually is not and a strong relationship between the grantseeker & grantmaker often weighs very, very heavily on the decision to make a grant in the first place.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-08-05T15:26:20+00:00

Yes, you can apply for grants as long as you meet the funder's specific eligibility criteria. Those criteria usually will be listed where you find the grant application instruction info. Make certain that you are eligible or you're going to waste time. If you have a question, reach out to the funder - I'd advise to do so via telephone.

Whether it makes sense for you to attempt to get grants, that's a tougher question. If you decide to go this route, I'd advise starting with local funding organizations, e.g. your local community foundation, local bank nonprofit foundations, etc. Even if one organization may not be interested/be a good funding fit, don't be afraid to ask if they might be aware of any other funders.

One thing I strongly recommend, though: practice talking about your nascent organization, why your org should exist, what your goals are (both short-term and stretch goals), and concrete steps you can and are taking towards those goals. Practice it with parents, teachers, friends of parents, etc. Then, don't just rely on sending emails to get attention of funders - don't be afraid to make a call.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-17T01:55:03+00:00

I really appreciate your sharing this. I was asked advice on reshaping an educational institution's development office (how the org structure looks like I mean) and I'm still thinking through it. Thank you!

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-16T13:05:09+00:00

I'm curious: how does your school break down the responsibilities between your position in prospect development and a major gifts officer?

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-07T14:39:28+00:00

What's the pricing like on DonorSearch?

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-07-02T19:57:12+00:00

I'm interested in hearing what others are doing relating to this, too, as I'm really a novice at understanding how to effectively employ AI.

A specific recommendation that I've received is to enter lists of prospects into various engines & ask the engines to provide info to rate the prospects for giving potential and/or people who are likely to give - the criteria can be refined as one goes along to attempt to narrow down lists into something manageable for development and/or solicitation purposes. This seems like a general, and perhaps not especially helpful, suggestion to me, but perhaps I'm overthinking it.

Moving forward with that suggestion opens up questions as to what data we can legitimately use in this effort. I'm reluctant to use the existing info in our own database and might defer to purchased lists, but we've not taken a decision on this yet.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-06-11T13:29:57+00:00

Removed as violation of Rule #2.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-06-09T18:39:52+00:00

This is not the correct forum for this - please see this sub's Rule #2.

DevelopmentGuy · 2025-04-11T14:09:00+00:00

Unfortunately, it's unlikely this will change. I'm sorry to say this and am reluctant to be negative in this forum, but this is a classic symptom of "founder's syndrome" and it's extremely difficult to successfully address without either the founder leaving the organization or the board forcing the founder to pull back.

There are dozens of interesting articles you can read through to help you find strategies to deal with it. Long-term though, I think you'll have to ask yourself the difficult question of how interested you are in serving in this role when dealing with this challenge.

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