Fundraising in Difficult Times

Our partners at Network for Good have launched a new gift-giving program. Individuals and corporations can give a tax-deductible Good Card in lieu of (or in addition to) a holiday present. The recipient can then choose where the gift money goes, among any of Network for Good's 1.5 million client organizations.

Network for Good has a standard design, but will also print customized cards for businesses that want to give them to customers or employees (contact Network for Good for more information). I think that it's an elegant idea that could be very popular in the midst of this year's economic hardships.

Fundraising in the face of an uncertain economy has been a big topic on nonprofit blogs over the past several weeks, and understandably so. Beth Kanter advises that this is the time for nonprofits to use social media tools to work together and strengthen each other. On Philanthropy reminds us that communication with your donors in tough times is crucial: be upfront with donors both about how the economic downturn impacts your nonprofit and, even more importantly, why the downturn makes your services important. Jeff at Donor Power Blog thinks that this time period could be a trial by fire for nonprofits: it forces us to become more focused and diligent, and more careful with our donors' money. Smart nonprofits, Jeff suggests, will look back at this as a time when they hit their stride and began making a huge impact.

There's a good discussion in the TechSoup Community about how nonprofits are affected by the crisis. Our friend Sasha from FundRaiser Software points to an interesting study showing that although corporate giving measurably drops during crises, individual giving doesn't. Head over to the forum and share your thoughts and experiences.

Finally, don't forget about our special promotion with the donor research tool NOZA, coming up on November 5.

Thanks to Beth at Good Works Grapevine.