American Friends groups take particular note: The IRS has issued a set of Temporary Regulations (§1.6033-6T) and a series of information releases to cover procedures for the new annual reporting requirements for small nonprofits enacted in the Pension Protection Act of 2006. The rules require small nonprofits that had previously been exempt from filing a Form 990 or 990-EZ because their receipts are normally less than $25,000 to file a new Form 990-N electronically to confirm that they still exist and carry on activities. The statute takes effect for fiscal years beginning after December 31, 2006, and will first effect those organizations on a calendar fiscal year ending December 31, 2007. Their reports ...

LONDON (AP) -- Britain's 81-year-old Queen Elizabeth II, considered an icon of traditionalism, launched her own special Royal Channel on YouTube Sunday. (source: NYTimes) You might ask what this has to do with Jewish philanthropy? The answer is everything; when such a conservative establishment as Britain's Royal family turns to YouTube to deliver the Queen's Christmas message, it begs the question:

how will you organization best reach its' target audience in 2008?

Perhaps the answer is the old stand-by of direct mail with a bit of e-mail tossed in (to allow your audience to think you are with it). But more and more we are seeing the need to expand into new horizons to maintain current donors and attract ...

That's all you've got when a potential supporter, or even random visitor, checks out your website.

IS YOUR WEBSITE UP TO THE TASK? if not, it should be at the very top of your 2008 'to do list'

• More than 65% of donors visit at least one of the websites of the charities they support
• 40% ALWAYS go online before making a giving decision
• At least 75% of donors say going online affects their decision to give or not
• Donors who contribute online tend to give significantly more overall!

source: AFP, "Donors Increasingly Going Online Before Giving” (note: this is based on 2005 research; there is every reason to believe the numbers are higher today)

As you begin to finalize your organizations' technology plans for the coming year, the most important word to remember is test. According to Miriam-Webster this would be, "a critical examination, observation, or evaluation." Keeping this simple and basic concept towards the front of our minds will be one way to succeed in 2008. What specifically should you be doing? For starters, 1. Take a fresh look at the conversion numbers on your email campaigns; test new methods; test the timing; and be timely. 2. Take a fresh look at all of your online giving forms; test new giving options; test new themes. 3. Test, retest, test and retest all your email communications. Test your timing ...

"They drive on the wrong side of the road; they need regime change, but... They are doing some great stuff online." (source, workshop hand-out) This being December, everyone has their lists. Best dressed, worst movies, any and every theme you can possibly imagine. Well, we will not be left out. I just returned from a workshop in London dealing with Current Trends in Online Fundraising. We were a small, eclectic and focused group representing Israel, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the U.K. and the U.S. Organizations as diverse as Mama Cash, a Netherlands based organization focusing on innovative women's projects and 2007 EU winner for an online fundraising campaign, to UNICEF participated. I will have much to offer in thoughts, suggestions and ...