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Category: Nonprofit Fundraising

Disney Action Against School Shows That Small Nonprofit Fundraisers Don’t Fly Under Radar

Disney Action Against School Shows That Small Nonprofit Fundraisers Don’t Fly Under Radar

It’s no fun being the nonprofit board member or volunteer who tells others, “We can’t do that, it’s a violation of [someone’s copyright, or trademark, or other rights].” I’ve had to be that person, and the usual response is, “Oh, come on, we’re hardly making any money anyway,” or “You seriously think anyone is going to notice?” Guess what. Disney notices. It’s all described here, in “Disney fined a PTA for showing the Lion King at a fundraising event to…

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Want Your Charitable Deduction Back at Tax-Time? Push for Universal Charitable Deduction

Want Your Charitable Deduction Back at Tax-Time? Push for Universal Charitable Deduction

Any day now, Americans preparing their Forms 1040 are going to either learn or come face to face with a certain cold truth: their charitable deductions do them no good, tax-wise. (Unless they’re super rich, that is, but the super-rich don’t even prepare their own 1040s; their accountants will figure out the value of their gifts to nonprofit organizations.) It’s not that the charitable deduction is gone. The reason for this change is the doubling of the standard deduction that…

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Holiday Season 2018 to Test How Much Donors Are Motivated by Tax Deductions

Holiday Season 2018 to Test How Much Donors Are Motivated by Tax Deductions

End-of-year giving traditionally gives struggling nonprofits a way to make up for any lost ground and get a budgetary boost into the new year. Starting with Giving Tuesday (November 27 this year), the public is treated to, or annoyed by, a chorus of messages from needy nonprofits. Despite any annoyance, many generous people respond, such that approximately 30% of individual giving happens in December. We are weeks away, however, from what could be a seismic shift. The timing of holiday…

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How to Make Your Nonprofit’s Emails Stand Out on Days Like Giving Tuesday

How to Make Your Nonprofit’s Emails Stand Out on Days Like Giving Tuesday

Although it has been around only since 2012, Giving Tuesday (on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving) has become the established “opening day” for year-end online donations to nonprofit organizations. Last year (in 2015) for example, almost 700,000 online donors collectively gave over $116 million dollars to charitable causes, according to a report by ImpactLab. Suffice it to say that no nonprofit wants to be left out of the action. And judging from the number of emails in my inbox this morning…

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Trump Plan to Cap Itemized Deductions a Concern for Nonprofits

Trump Plan to Cap Itemized Deductions a Concern for Nonprofits

As has been widely reported, President-Elect Donald Trump’s plan to change the U.S. tax system includes placing a cap on itemized deductions–$100,000 for a single person, and $200,000 for a married couple. Sound like plenty to cover your deductions? (It sure is for mine.) But we all have cause for concern about the impact on U.S. nonprofit organizations, because charitable donations are on the list of potential U.S. tax deductions. Suddenly, the wealthiest of donors will have less incentive to give….

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