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1 week ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
Many nonprofits are reeling from federal funding cuts — and are holding their breath in an uncertain economy, wondering how they would respond to a potential recession. There are signs that the national economy is starting to slow. But several regions of the country have already experienced some of the economic pain that comes with a recession.
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4 weeks ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
As the number of donors keeps declining and cuts to federal funding continue, donor-advised funds are in the spotlight more than ever. Many nonprofits are targeting DAF donors in their appeals because they’ve already set aside that money for charities. Researchers interviewed 46 fundraisers about how they interact with DAF donors, what the challenges are, and what’s working well.
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1 month ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
Beth Zimmerman doesn’t have a lot of free time. She is one of three people on the staff of the small nonprofit she founded, Pets for Patriots. So, as executive director, she is also responsible for the group’s fundraising. In the past, Zimmerman would spend multiple days working on each grant the group applied for. “Grant writing is an extremely tedious, very time-consuming, very gut-wrenching activity,” Zimmerman says. Once, she spent nine hours over two days working on one grant.
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1 month ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
Many donor-advised funds have more money sitting in them and dole out less money to charities than previous research says, according to a recent report published by the Institute for Policy Studies, a think tank that is critical of the lack of payout requirements for DAFs.“At large commercial DAFs, the average account sizes are huge,” says Chuck Collins, director of the charity reform initiative at IPS.
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1 month ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
For years, charities have admired the massive sums that individuals raise on the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe. Now they can see if it works for them, as the company moves fully into the nonprofit world with GoFundMePro.
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2 months ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
This year’s federal funding cuts are devastating many nonprofits. But it appears the sector was taking hits even before 2025. New reports about 2024 fundraising show a shrinking number of donors to America’s charities — alarmingly, for the fourth year in a row — and little growth in dollars raised.
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2 months ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
Early this year, as inflation fears grew and talk of a recession brewed, Laura MacDonald could tell that donors were getting skittish. The nonprofits and colleges that MacDonald’s fundraising firm works with were already reporting that supporters didn’t feel confident enough to commit to multiyear pledges. Then the president announced tariffs, sparking what has become weeks of volatility in the stock and bond markets and deepening concerns about the economy and individual investment portfolios.
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2 months ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
Supporters who have donor-advised funds tend to give from multiple sources—not just their DAFs, may be good candidates to approach for planned giving, and when they donate anonymously, often do it to avoid public receiving their information, not necessarily the charity, according to new research from the DAF Research Collaborative. The new research is one of the first to provide data from a large number of DAF donors.
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2 months ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
When an earthquake hit Syria and Turkey in 2023, Colin Skehan threw himself into his job as a fundraiser with an international relief group. His organization and the affected communities were counting on him to raise money to help. At the time, Skehan was a new father and exhausted from lack of sleep. But he pressed on with what was often emotionally tough work, searching photos of children killed in the quake to create appeals.
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2 months ago | 
philanthropy.com | Rasheeda Childress
Federal funding cuts have hit nonprofits hard. Many organizations have laid staff off and closed programs, and some economists are predicting a recession. The world nonprofit employees face feels chaotic and unstable. It can be hard to focus on fulfilling the mission while navigating such stress, say experts. Whether your nonprofit has had layoffs or program cuts or if you’re lucky enough to just be watching with concern as you read the news, it’s a tough time.
