For nonprofit groups and their donors, passion is out and standards and accountability are in.

“A lot of people aren’t looking to donate to some ‘mom and pop’ charity that’s operating on a prayer and hope… they want to donate to well-run, legitimate organizations,” writes Lindsey McDougle, a third year Ph.D. student at the University of San Diego pursuing a doctoral degree specializing in Nonprofit and Philanthropic Studies, on her blog Leadership as a Field of Study.

Donors, she continues “want to know that the dollars they invest into a nonprofit organization will go to the purposes for which the funds were solicited. They want to know that organizational policies, structures, and standards are in place, and that the organization to which they are donating is legitimately operating in an efficient manner.”

Have you seen this change happening at your nonprofit group? If so, how have you responded?