As the economy continues to sputter, many charities expect that grants they had been getting from United Ways, corporate donors, and foundations will decline or disappear altogether in coming months.

But instead of complaining or wringing their hands about it, fund raisers should take a different tack, says Carol Weisman, a St. Louis consultant who advises charity boards on fund raising.

When nonprofit leaders learn they are losing a grant or other big contribution due to economic pressures, they should invite their contact at the organization out to lunch — and promise not to ask for any money, Ms. Weisman says.

She says she once used a similar strategy years ago when she served on the board of a health charity and was notified that, due to bankruptcy proceedings, a pharmaceutical company couldn’t make a big grant the charity had been expecting, and it was suspending its grant ...

Many fund raisers have predicted a sharp drop in gifts of appreciated stock in the final months of this year, because investments have plunged in value in the ongoing financial crisis, and donors are nervous about their losses.

But Robert F. Sharpe, a Memphis planned-giving consultant, argues that — while fewer stock gifts are all but certain — donating appreciated securities is still advantageous for many people, and fund raisers should keep promoting those gifts among certain types of donors.

Donors in their 60s and older, for example, he writes, “have seen the value of securities fall in recent months but still enjoy substantial gains.”

At one point this month, he notes, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at nearly the level that would have provided stockholders who own those securities with a 9-percent annual return over the past 25 years.

Donors who hold stocks that...

Melanie Frazier, director of development at the Winnetka Community House, in Illinois., is the latest fund raiser to ask Prospecting readers for advice on a direct-mail letter.

Ms. Frazier said the draft letter that follows will include a perforated stub that provides prospective donors with a choice of seven amounts they can choose to give.

As always, we ask that you provide constructive advice. We’ll share the next draft of her letter once it is available.

Since 1911, the mission of the Winnetka Community House has been to develop strong bodies and alert minds for social opportunity, and to provide a place for community interaction and life enriching programs. We ask that you lend your support as we approach our 98th year.

The generosity of others has allowed us to provide the type of programming and services our community desires. Permit me to share a letter we...

Fund raisers have spent months pushing Congress to extend a tax break that allows older donors to channel money from their individual retirement accounts to charity.

But now that the extension has become law as part of the federal financial bailout measure, fund raisers have less reason to be overjoyed: Since many account holders suffered losses in the stock market, older Americans may be less inclined to give through the retirement accounts.

Still, Timothy Prosser, vice president of institutional trust consulting at TIAA-CREF, told planned-giving specialists gathered at the annual meeting of the National Committee on Planned Giving, in Denver, that charities can still benefit from the tax incentive.

The best prospects, he said, are donors who do not itemize their tax returns or are subject to adjusted gross income tax limitations, as well as donors who want to make large gifts...

The weak economy has nonprofit organizations searching for creative ways to raise money.

For many institutions, the first step is getting board members to increase their efforts to solicit money. But that is tough, especially at a time when many trustees are worried about their own financial security.

How can your organization best inspire board members to solicit donations? What are other organizations doing to build better relationships with their board members?

To answer these questions, the Chronicle will conduct a live online discussion tomorrow at noon Eastern time.

The live discussion is free and readers are encourage to submit their questions ahead of time.

As part of this discussion, we also invite you to share your tips on how to persuade board members to participate in your fund-raising efforts.

Please feel free to share you ideas in the comment field below —...

Two planned-giving experts looked for the silver lining for fund raisers in the tanking economy in a session last week at the annual conference of the National Committee on Planned Giving, in Denver.

Jeffrey Comfort, senior director of planned giving at Georgetown University, and Cynthia W. Krause, vice president of gift planning at Baylor Health Care System Foundation, said fund raisers who seek bequests and other planned gifts have an opportunity to play a more central role in donors’ discussions with lawyers, money managers, and insurance agents they consult on managing their wealth and estates through the downturn.

One topic of discussion fund raisers may want to raise is the possibility of changes in the estate tax, which is now scheduled to expire in 2010 and return in 2011.

Another is that large stock-market losses have shaken many people’...

Few charities promote insurance gifts, and most of them focus only on the transfer of existing life insurance policies, said E. John McKee, director of gift planning at the University of Maryland at a session of the annual conference in Denver of the National Committee on Planned Giving.

But, he says, this approach rarely makes sense for either the donor or the charity. It assumes that the donor has no heirs, doesn’t take into account the donor’s original motivations in purchasing the policy, and is usually met with resistance from the donor’s insurance agent, who won’t receive commission or benefit from the extra paperwork entailed in the transfer.

Instead, Mr. McKee recommends that charities ask donors to create new insurance policies with the charity as the owner and beneficiary. A fully paid life insurance policy lets the donors make small...

Too often donors and volunteer fund raisers think of charitable gifts only in terms of cash and other liquid assets, says Laura Hansen Dean, executive director for gift planning at the University of Texas at Austin.

But in these tough economic times that needs to change, said Ms. Dean at a session in Denver of the annual conference of the National Committee on Planned Giving.,

Before beginning a capital campaign, Ms. Dean recommends an organization review and revise its policies for accepting gifts. Even though a significant proportion of the country’s wealth is tied up in real estate or in closely held business interests, most charities’ policies discourage gifts that don’t come in the form of cash or securities, she said.

Ms. Dean also emphasized the importance of working with consultants that value planned gifts as an integral part of a...

Graduate students and faculty members at New York University’s Heyman Center for Philanthropy and Fundraising are putting their research to public good in a new online journal of essays, articles, and opinion pieces.

The journal, Chronicling the Independent Sector: The Heyman Center’s Fundraising and Philanthropy Forum seeks to raise awareness of the study of philanthropy and promote discussion of effective fund-raising techniques.

“As our fund raisers and philanthropic leaders become better and more knowledgeable in the field, the promised outcome is a better America and a better global community,” write the journal’s co-editors in chief, Casey Rotter and Lauren Weston. “This online journal is a forum to the world and the greater philanthropic community as a whole.”

The journal’s inaugural issue features an essay on...

It turns out that jokes about the economic crisis and the increased financial needs of students just aren’t funny when they appear in a fund-raising letter from your alma mater.

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert may make snarking about current events look easy, but Framingham State College learned a painful lesson in misguided humor when it attempted to make light of the tanking economy and credit crunch in a recent appeal for donations from 6,000 younger alumni who had not previously given to the college.

“With the recent economic downturn and loan crisis, it has become even more important for Framingham State College to receive your support. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” the letter reads. It goes on to say: “No matter the amount, every gift counts. Blah, blah, blah,...