- Writing on the Harvard Business Review Web site, Timothy Ogden, publisher of the online publication Philanthropy Action, discusses how the availability of real-time information via text message will change philanthropy. People in need, not aid groups, will tell donors what assistance they require; missteps in the provision of aid will be reported directly to donors; and the need for aid organizations to serve as intermediaries will be reduced, he says.
- “When writing fund-raising copy, write to a fifth- or sixth-grade reading level,” Jeff Brooks, creative director of TrueSense marketing, suggests on his blog Future Fundraising Now. Mr. Brooks offers additional tips from the Word Wealth blog on how to write effective fund-raising pitches.
- “Nonprofits have missions that are not about putting their profits into the hands of the owners but back into mission,” Mike Burns, a strategic-planning consultant, writes on his blog Nonprofit Board Crisis. Mr. Burns is responding to a comment made by Ryan Allis, founder of iChat, who believes nonprofit groups should run their organizations with a for-profit model in mind.
- On their Values blog, Matthew Bishop and Michael Green, authors of the book Philanthrocapitalism: How the Rich Can Save the World, discuss a new collaboration in Britain to use matching money to encourage the nation’s residents to increase their giving.
