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In a recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, author Jeff Cain encourages us to rethink how we measure generosity in the United States.  Traditionally, fundraisers rely on Giving USA’s annual report on the state of philanthropy that measures American’s giving to the nonprofit…

Giving USA 2023: The Annual Report on Philanthropy for the Year 2022 recently released its annual report measuring giving in the United States. It found that individuals, bequests, foundations and corporations gave an estimated $499.33 billion to U.S. charities in…

The top fifty donors in the United States gave $14.1 billion to charity in 2022.  Here’s the top ten with the total they gifted (and a major gift highlighted for each donor): While this giving is inspiring, we should expect much…

Please Note: This is factual information and not intended to make a political statement for or against any of the politicians mentioned in this blog post. In election years, I take some time to report out what the presidential and…

The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently reported on a University of Maryland study on four demographic trends among young adults (age 22-35) that are likely to impact fundraising: #1: Homeownership is falling. Bad news for fundraising as homeowners are much more likely to…

For anyone involved in fundraising for more than a few years, you’ve probably heard of “donor-centered fundraising.” The idea behind this concept is that everything a nonprofit organization does must primarily focus on making the donor experience as positive as…

Each year, I post the charitable giving of our federal elected leaders. This information can be found in their released tax returns. I think it’s helpful for voters to have a sense of their leader’s generosity especially in light of…

Each year, Giving USA reports on giving trends throughout the United States from the previous year. The most recent report for 2021 found the following: • Giving in the United States totaled nearly $485 billion in 2021. To put that in perspective,…

Retaining donors is “job number one” for fundraisers.  Unfortunately, most fundraising professionals aren’t very good at this.  Between the time donors make their first gift and the second appeal arrives, two out of three donors have decided not to give again.  This is…