Gifts from Individuals
Gifts from individual donors continue to be the major source of philanthropic funds received by charities and other nonprofit organizations. Some are gifts deferred, often the result of a planned giving process that involves the donor's estate. The Internet is increasingly used to locate and interest potential donors, or to link donors and likely recipient organizations. This section of GRANTS, ETC. is designed for both donors and fundraisers.
| APRA | ||
| APRA is an international organization for fundraisers who specialize in research and information management. Although it does not include an extensive list of prospective donors on its website, with some creativity, it should be possible to zero in on donors with a history of interests that complement those of some fund seekers. For example, from the Specialty Pages section, click the link associated with Ann Castle's Women in Philanthropy page at the University of Michigan
, then click Women Donors to access the names of thousands of women who've made major gifts to American universities. As with other forms of prospecting, it often requires patience and creativity to strike gold. |
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| Canadian Association of Gift Planners | ||
| Although the Association of Gift Planners website does not access data on individual donors, it does link to a varied group of organizations and instructions in planned giving, financial planning, and donor development. | ||
| Net Site: | http: |
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| Charity Channel | ||
| Charity Channel was established to facilitate networking by nonprofit and fundraising professionals worldwide. It does so through a number of means: e-newsletters, articles, book reviews on its home page, and through the use of online forums that connect professionals with similar interests (such as locating prospective donors). Members can search archived information on prospect research. | ||
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| CharityNavigator | ||
| Charity Navigator helps donors make intelligent choices by providing them with information on the financial health, efficiency, and capacity of the more than 4,000 nonprofits it its database. Articles and published reviews on charities in the news provide donors with up-to-date insights. | ||
| Net Site: | http: |
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| E-Philanthropy with Network for Good | ||
| Founded in 2001 by the Time Warner Foundation and AOL, the Cisco Foundation and Cisco Systems, and Yahoo!, Network for Good is an e-philanthropy website where individuals can donate, volunteer, and get involved with the issues they care about. Since inception, more than 300,000 donors have contributed more than $90 million dollars to 20,000 charities using the Network for Good giving system. Network for Good is a leading example of how e-philanthropy has become an increasingly important venue for soliciting gifts from individuals. | ||
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| Giving Forum | ||
| The Giving Forum and its Knowledge Center conduct research and provide
information to donors concerned with racial, ethnic, and tribal philanthropy. It accesses donor blogs, shares information on giving circles, and supports donor choices, through toolkits and data searches. |
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| Locating Donors Through the Foundation Center | ||
| The Foundation Center's extensive collection of print and electronic resources for identifying prospective donors is heavily used. Print materials and CD-roms are available in more than 200 collaborating academic and public libraries that purchase the Center's databases. Many of these can also be searched electronically at the site. The Center's 990 search engine can also be used to identify individual donors to specific nonprofits by reviewing the organization's annual tax returns. | ||
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| National Committee on Planned Giving | ||
| NCPG is a professional association for people whose work involves developing, marketing, and administering charitable planned gifts. The site's Resource Center includes an online library, guidelines for valuation of planned gifts, lists of companies that provide gift planning services, and research reports on donor behavior. It also provides information on creating collaborative planned giving councils. | ||
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| Planned Giving Articles from Charity Village | ||
| Charity Village, the Canadian website, posts a virtual encyclopedia of articles on how to develop, promote, and market planned giving programs. Some include reports and case analyses of successful fundraising activities. | ||
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| Tactical Philanthropy | ||
| Tactical Philanthropy accesses scores of blogs of interest to donors and
fundraisers. Examples include "Who owns a nonprofit" and "How a percentage of all Internet credit card purchases can be directed to a designated charity." |
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