Wednesday, December 17, 2014

As discussed in Wikipedia (TM), crowd funding refers to the collection of funds through small contributions from many parties in order to finance a particular project or venture, usually on Internet platforms. According to various sources, the term has been used since 2006.

General Sources

For a brief overview of this rapidly changing field plus a list of useful resources and a selection of crowd funding websites, see the following article from Advancing Philanthropy. (Requires login as an AFP member to access.)

How Crowdfunding Helps Engage Donors You Wouldn't Attract in Other Ways
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/afp/ap_2014summer/#/32

For a short introduction to crowdfunding and steps to get you started, see:
Quick-guide-to-get-your-nonprofit-crowd-on
http://www.clairification.com/2015/10/18/quick-guide-to-get-your-nonprofit-crowd-on/
Also see:

CrowdFundamentals: 11 Steps to Fundraising Success

http://www.globalgiving.org/crowdfundamentals/

For a detailed discussion of ethical and legal issues in crowdfunding for nonprofits, see the following article. (Requires a subscription to The Chronicle of Philanthropy.) For a detailed discussion of current vendors and fee structures, see the entire 9/25/14issue.
Caution! The Downsides of Crowdfunding
http://philanthropy.com/article'Caution-The-Downsides-of/148885?cid=megamenu

What Is and Is Not Crowd Funding

http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2014/07/crowdfunding-what-it-is-and-what-its-not/

Do Crowdfunders Have to Register to Solicit?
http://www.nonprofitissues.com/public/features/point/751-Why-don’t-crowdfunders-have-to-register-to-solicit.php

Crowdfunding Controversies and How They Impact Nonprofits and Charities
http://forums.techsoup.org/cs/community/b/tsblog/archive/2014/05/06/crowdfunding-controversies-how-they-impact-nonprofits-charities.aspx

Vendors and Platforms

The Internet contains hundreds of crowdfunding vendors and platforms, and the numbers continue to grow. Here are links that mention some of them.

7 Top Crowdfunding Sites for Nonprofits and Higher-Ed Institutions

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/crowdfunding-sites-for-nonprofits-higher-ed-li

How to Pick the Best Crowdfunding Platform
http://mashable.com/2012/06/18/crowdfunding-platform-business/

Which Crowdfunding Platform Is Best for Your Nonprofit?

http://www.techsoupcanada.ca/en/community/blog/which-crowdfunding-platform-is-best-for-your-nonprofit

Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites for Fundraising http://www.forbes.com/sites/chancebarnett/2013/05/08/top-10-crowdfunding-sites-for-fundraising/

A Free Crowdfunding Platform for Nonprofits
https://philanthropy.com/article/Indiegogo-Launches-Free/233839?

Ethical Considerations

Some crowdfunding services charge fees based on a percentage of funds raised. A discussion of when such fees are permissible under the AFP Code of Ethics will be presented in a forthcoming post.

Crowd Funding Best Practices

How Nonprofits Can Leverage Crowdfunding: Best Practices and Data -

http://www.bethkanter.org/crowdfunding-info/

*******************************************************************************

News Links

The AFP Recent News Blog contains a variety of additional articles about Crowd Funding:

http://afprc7.blogspot.com/search/label/NPCrowdfunding

The AFP Technology Blog also contains some articles about Crowd Funding. (Some overlap occurs.)

http://afprc11.blogspot.com/search/label/NPCrowdfunding

Muslim Giving and Inclusive Giving

From AFP

An interview that the Chair did on CBC Radio. You can find it here: http://www.cbc.ca/player/AudioMobile/Ottawa+Morning/ID/2461866108/

AFP filmed all the sessions and is uploading them to the following YouTube channel (though we’re a little behind in receiving video): https://www.youtube.com/user/AFPInclusiveGiving/playlists

We eventually expect to have these Resources available through the Inclusive Giving Site directly.

Via the AFP Resource Center blogs we have collected the following over time:

http://afprc7.blogspot.com/search?q=muslim&max-results=20&by-date=true

http://afprc7.blogspot.com/search?q=ramadan

Here are a few articles from the web which may be in the above blogs as well:

Ramadan food-bank campaign Give 30 expands across Canada

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2013/07/04/ramadan_foodbank_campaign_give_30_expands_across_canada.html

https://www.facebook.com/Ramadan2012Canada

http://suhaag.com/community/the-season-of-giving-charities-you-can-donate-to-during-ramadan/

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/other/muslims-give-more-charity-others-uk-poll-says-f6C10703224

https://ramadan.muslimaid.org/donations-for-ramadan/

Operating Reserves

The AFP Fundraising Dictionary defines reserves as "assets set aside that usually represent a percentage of an organization’s operating budget for an emergency or other use." An operating reserve may be thought of as a "rainy day" fund--assets set aside to cover unforeseen expenses that may arise. Compare: CONTINGENCY FUND

Members may find the AFP Fundraising Dictionary Online at:

http://www.afpnet.org/ResourceCenter/ArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3380

Note: You must be an AFP member to access the Fundraising Dictionary Online.

The following articles contain information about operating reserve policies and related material:

      Operating Reserve Policy Toolkit for Nonprofit Organizations -Sector Source

     Operating Reserves | Sustainability | Nonprofit Management ...

     Operating Reserve Policy Toolkit - nccs2.org

     Operating Reserves Policy - Nonprofits Assistance Fund

     Nonprofit Fiscal Policies & Procedures - Compass Point ...

     Operating Reserve and Investment Policy - Colorado Nonprofit

     About Operating Reserves for Nonprofits | Nonprofit ...

The Nonprofit Operating Reserves Initiative and the ...

Operating Reserves - National Council of Nonprofits

Readers may also wish to consult the following book available for sale in the AFP online store:

Developing Fundraising Policies and Procedures, Best Practices for Accountability and Transparency

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Hiring A Development Director and Staff

AFP Members can access our Ready Reference series book on “Bringing a Development Director on Board”: http://www.afpnet.org/files/ContentDocuments/3%20Bringing%20a%20Development%20Director%20on%20Board.pdf (you’ll need to log in to access) The Ready Reference guide download is a benefit of membership.

The Hot Topic on the Development Office (Also requires member sign in)

Development Office

http://www.afpnet.org/HotTopic/DevelopmentOffice

Before an organization starts a fundraising program, certain conditions need to be in place, including leaders that have a clear sense of the organization’s mission and constituency and a vision of the organization’s direction, a continuous planning process for determining how it will achieve its mission and how much it will cost, and the necessary resources to achieve the plan.

Here is some material on Hiring a Development Director and thoughts on when to hire.

http://thirdsectortoday.com/2014/05/27/five-tips-for-hiring-a-director-of-development/

http://www.afpnet.org/ResourceCenter/ArticleDetail.cfm?ItemNumber=3645

http://foundationcenter.org/pnd/tsn/tsn.jhtml?id=242600001

http://www.simonejoyaux.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/FindingTheRight-DevelopmentOfficer.pdf

http://richardmale.com/hiring-a-development-director/

http://www.blueavocado.org/content/how-hire-your-first-development-director

http://philanthropy.com/blogs/against-the-grain/development-directors-are-not-miracle-workers/28361

http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/96/fundraising.html

Development Director Interview

http://www.raise-funds.com/2007/development-director-job-interview-questionnaire/

http://www.nonprofitmarketingguide.com/blog/2012/10/11/best-and-worst-job-interview-questions-for-comm-and-development-directors/

http://philanthropy.com/article/Nonprofit-Managers-and/52437/