NewsBits: Sunday Reading

Some recent articles from around the nonprofit world

from Frogloop:

Tough Times at Your Nonprofit? Don’t Cut Back – Expand!

Even in tough times, nonprofits need to expand their outreach. Why? Because it’s likely to be both cheaper and more effective in a down economy than in one that’s growing.

When times get tough, those nonprofits and businesses that survive usually end up cutting costs to the bone, since donations, grants and sales are all probably headed down. But some smart leaders have realized that expansion can actually be cheaper at times when assets are undervalued and services are under-used.

from Fundraising Success magazine:

What’s Hot, What’s Not: 2009 Edition

The fundraising landscape is always changing and forcing nonprofits to work even harder to keep up with what’s hot in the market. Keeping track of new trends can be a full-time job in its own right, and knowing how to change development plans can be a daunting task. Achieving success in this ever-changing landscape can seem impossible, but it’s not.

What’s hot
Despite the Internet bursting onto the scene more than 15 years ago, organizations still are learning how to use Web strategies to  meet their overall goals, especially for improving donor retention and loyalty. The following hot, new concepts have begun to enter fundraisers’ repertoires over the past few years.

from The NonProfit Times:

One Charity, The Potential For Thousands Of ‘Causes’

“The vast majority of donors are not people who would’ve donated offline,” said Green [Joe Green, founder and president of Causes], adding that the Facebook application is just as much about engagement as it is fundraising.

Donations going through Causes during the past 12 to 14 months have grown from about $3,000 daily to $40,000, according to Green. Causes has raised $7.5 million since it was launched almost two years ago. Almost $5 million of that total has come in its second year.