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April 1, 2009
White Papers: Orange Leap The Guru		AFP Study: Only 46% Of Charities Showed 2008 Gains Fewer than half of charities raised more money in 2008 than in 2007, and fundraising gains dropped significantly across the board, according to figures released by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) at its 46th International Conference on Fundraising here in New Orleans. AFP’s eighth annual State of Fundraising Survey asked charities to compare fundraising totals in 2008 to their figures for 2007. Overall, just 46 percent of organizations raised more money in 2008, a new low in the eight-year history of the survey. In a typical year, about 60 percent of respondents raise more money compared to the previous year. The previous low was reported in 2002 when just 49 percent of organizations raised more money that year than compared to 2001. In addition, the percentage of organizations raising less money in 2008 compared to 2007 (40 percent) was an all-time high. Another 14 percent raised about the same amount of money in both years.  Click here for more
		Poitier To Fundraisers With Love By Michele Donohue Sidney Poitier thanked the audience at the Association of Fundraising Professionals international fundraising conference for all the work they do within the sector at Tuesday’s plenary session. Work that, without which, Poitier said the world would be “inhospitable, less humane and infinitely less hopeful than we need it to be for our mutual, ongoing survival.” The 82-year old Academy Award-winning actor starred in films such as “Guess Who Is Coming To Dinner” and “To Sir, With Love.” He shared snapshots of his life and noted how philanthropy is intertwined in his youth before going on to share the silver screen with other movie legends, such as Spencer Tracy and James Gardner.  Click here for more
			Do You Speak Geek? Do Your Donors?   It seems like the Web 2.0 era has a whole other language – like Digg, Blogger, Facebook and Twitter. But these technologies are shaped by a fundraising cornerstone – personal relationships. Organizations are “far more likely to build trust if you are connecting to your donors as people,” said James Collier, from Paprika Studios in Fresno, Calif., at the Association of Fundraising Professionals international fundraising conference in New Orleans.   Here’s what you need to remember to become fluent in Web 2.0: Know the technologies. Organizations can post larger stories with blogs that allow readers to comment. Microblogging, like Twitter, send out shorter messages in 140 words or less to followers. There are thousands of different ways to connect to your followers. Figure out what would work best for you. Click here for more