Every year, the Arts Council hosts a very successful auction called H’Arts. This year, however, they saw record-breaking results. Compared to last year:

• Attendance increased by 20 percent
• Donation values increased by 50 percent
• Dollars raised increased by 65 percent
• “Fund-a-Need” donations increased by 450 percent

The Collins Group would like to tip our hat to the Arts Council and their success. Thank you for demonstrating that steadfast cultivation and donor-centered fundraising really does produce results – no matter what the economy.

Click here to learn more about the Arts Council project.

A recent study conducted by comScore revealed that, as of January 2010, over 30 percent of smartphone users are accessing social networking sites via their mobile browers.  The study examined the top three social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace) and found mobile access to Twitter has increased by a whopping 347 percent since one year ago.  Facebook also experienced growth, with an increase of 112 percent, while MySpace saw a decline of seven percent, which coincides with the site’s decreasing popularity overall.

This study is just one small piece of evidence that indicates social media’s lasting power.  Social networking sites are an increasingly popular method of communication, and their presence on mobile devices means that now they can be with us at all times.  If you haven’t jumped on the social media bandwagon yet, the time is now.

Not sure about how social media dovetails with philanthropy?  Tune in to blogtalkradio on March 9^th for The Nonprofit Coach with Ted Hart.  The author of People to People Fundraising: Social Networking and Web 2.0 for Charities will be discussing social networking and how nonprofits can successfully integrate online and offline fundraising techniques.

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What does this all mean for the nonprofit community, and fundraisers in particular? Well, Millennials have started to come of age and enter the workforce. Soon they’ll have disposable income, and the capacity to start giving philanthropically (or increase the giving they already do). This group has spent a lifetime being bombarded by messaging everywhere they go, meaning it will be more important than ever to keep their priorities and characteristics in mind when developing your key messages and determining meaningful opportunities for engagement with your organization.

How in touch are you with the Millennials? The fine folks at Pew created a quiz to go along with their report. Not surprisingly, the quiz has already become a Facebook sensation (how do you think I heard about it?).  Being a child of the 80’s, I got a score of 97.  How do you stack up?

Jessica holds a BA in Communications from the University of Washington and has served on the Board of the UW Association of Women in Communications.  She is currently involved with The Bridge nonprofit and government board training service.  She  has held a variety of volunteer positions with several nonprofit organizations including the Boys & Girls Club of Seattle, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle Works, Relay for Life, and The Ronald McDonald House. 

Check the TCG website in the coming weeks for her full bio.

Welcome, Jessica!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2011108575_nwwmaritimecenter18.html

• Under 40 years old
• Passionate about social change
• Want to address issues of class and privilege in meaningful ways
• Want to make a personal and community investment in change (at a level meaningful to you)

If you or someone you know would be a good fit, you can contact SJF, or attend the informational meeting February 25 at 6:00 pm in the Plaza 600 Building Conference room, 600 Stewart Street in downtown Seattle.  Click here for more details.  Tell your friends!

We can serve as a:

• Confidant – a safe and understanding ear for a CEO, Development Director, or board member to talk to about the organization’s challenges and their own challenges in dealing with the organization
• Translator – interpreting visionary ideas so that they will inspire both insiders and outsiders in the community
• Coach – working one-on-one to prepare someone for every contingency that may come up in the day-to-day reality of nonprofit leadership
• Change agent – a neutral outsider who can work at multiple levels within an organization to facilitate lasting institutional change

Just like many of you, I love bringing in the big gifts, but at the end of the day, the other aspects of being a fundraising consultant – building relationships and affecting change – turn out to be just as satisfying, if not more.

Earlier this week, the Nonprofit Technology Network organized a panel of nonprofit assessment organizations (including Guidestar and Charity Navigator) to discuss the best way to evaluate nonprofit effectiveness.

This conversation around new metrics for evaluating effectiveness is long overdue. I’m all for accountability and transparency within the nonprofit sector, but the current, simple measures focused on overhead spending lead to both skewed reporting and an undercapitalization of successful nonprofit organizations.

Panelists identified some of their work ahead to change the way we determine nonprofit effectiveness as the following:

- Helping nonprofits with their evaluation skills

- Educating funders and the public about effectiveness vs. overhead

- Defining effectiveness and systems for reporting that will be adopted throughout the sector

Click here to listen to the full panel discussion.

Last week’s NDOA conference featured fundraising guru Kim Klein as keynote speaker. She commanded the attention of the 380 fundraising and nonprofit professionals in the room and delivered a bit of a wake up call. She challenged nonprofit leaders to “talk about taxes” and have more discussions about what our expectations are for our tax dollars and from the public sector. The tax debate should be of concern to fundraisers and the nonprofit sector as a whole because of the tax benefits for charitable giving, yet Kim sees our sector too often avoiding the subject. Thanks, Kim, for the call to action! This may just be the year that nonprofit leaders start talking taxes, if they haven’t already, with the sunset of the estate tax and when our State and City budgets require difficult cuts and sacrifices.

So, if you are wondering where to begin – why not head to Olympia tomorrow to join with Executive Alliance and other nonprofit leaders as they meet with key legislators to discuss issues that affect nonprofit organizations sector-wide. Or, visit Executive Alliance’s website to read their blog, gain access to policy and advocacy resources and find out how to make your voice heard in the tax talks.