Finance

11 Best Small Business Insurance Companies for 2026
In many organizations, the announcement of a future event moves staff to wave their hands and raise their voices, saying that, “I want to help, I love events.” The theme and the goals and objectives of an event are (often) determined by the organization’s development team – the event being part of their annual fundraising …
Forming an LLC is a smart move to shield your personal assets from business liabilities, but that protection only holds if you keep your finances separate. One of the first and most important steps? Opening a dedicated business bank account. The choices you make early on can have a lasting impact on your business, and …
Tennessee’s vibrant mix of urban centers like Nashville and Memphis, historic small towns, and scenic rural communities means residents need banking solutions as diverse as their lifestyles. Whether you’re a music industry professional, a college student in Knoxville, a retiree in the Smoky Mountains, or a small business owner in Chattanooga, your bank should offer …

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(Be sure to see “Musts” 6-10 in this blog, too) 5. Please, do not — you MUST NOT — write your own fundraising materials. And, if you insist on doing so, pay an experienced fundraising writer to review and comment on your writing. Writing for fundraising is an Art. Most fundraising letters, case statements, grant …
Three Additional Thoughts: The Annual Fund Is Outdated 1. If a mechanism you’re using to raise funds for your programs/operations is called the “Annual Fund,” and if you solicit the same constituency more than once each year, then a response you’re likely to get from donors is, “I already gave this year.” You may not …
After thirty years in the non-profit sector, I often find myself questioning, not what we do, but how we label what we do — and how those labels often limit us. The best example of that concept, I believe, is the label “Annual Fund.” It seems as if, for as long as there have been …
I initially wrote this piece with the idea in mind that many NPOs don’t need DODs, but my wife read it and said I was totally wrong. So, the following is sort of a collaboration … actually, I won’t publish anything she doesn’t approve !! Ideally, from day one, an organization should have someone who …
So many non-profit organizations are hiring Directors of Development without really knowing/understanding what “development” is supposed to be about and how the role of the Director of Development is supposed to function. For many organizations, the Director of Development is the person hired to write the grant proposals, create relationships with corporations, or create/run the …
Development is, by definition, the process of creating and enhancing relationships with (potential) donors. It is the introduction of (prospective) donors to a non-profit organization, building their interest in the organization’s mission/services, developing in them a passion for the mission and a commitment to the organization’s future, getting them to make-the-gift, and maintaining the relationship …
Fundraising, as a distinct sub-category of income generation, includes those activities that get people to GIVE their money to non-profit organizations and, ideally, to get them to keep giving. It does not include raising money by selling things – T-shirts, light bulbs, candy, books, carnival tickets, seats at dinner, or anything else that has material …