Regional Development Officers

How Nonprofits Get Really BigSince 1970, more than 200,000 nonprofits have opened in the U.S., but only 144 of them have reached $50 million in annual revenue. Most of the members of this elite group got big by doing two things. They raised the bulk of their money from a single type of funder such as corporations or government – and not, as conventional wisdom would recommend, by going after diverse sources of funding. Just as importantly, these nonprofits created professional organizations that were tailored to the needs of their primary funding sources

Conventional wisdom says that scaling social innovation starts with strengthening internal management capabilities. This study of 12 high-impact nonprofits,however, shows that real social change happens when organizations go outside their own walls and find creative ways to enlist the help of others.

ARTICLES LIBRARY

The Power of PersuasionPutting the science of influence to work in fundraising

Loud and ClearCrafting messages that stick—What nonprofitscan learn from urban legends

Fostering High-Quality ConnectionsHow to deal with corrosive relationships at work

In 1981, Garrison Keillor, the popular host of Minnesota Public Radio’s satirical “A Prairie Home Companion,” offered listeners a free poster of his mythical sponsor’s “Powdermilk Biscuits.” To everyone’s surprise, more than 50,000 requests poured in; the station faced a $60,000 printing bill. To avert “financial disaster,” as MPR president William Kling later recalled, the station used the back of the poster to advertise products for sale, such as a Powdermilk Biscuits T-shirt. The idea worked. “I think we netted off that poster, which was really our first catalog, $15,000 or $20,000,” Kling said. “It instantly became clear that there were things like that you could do.”1

Want You to Meet Joe

How a riveting story can get your message across

Serious Business of Storytelling

Research Rules

In a preliminary online survey, we gathered simple demographic information like age and sex, while also posing deeper questions about interests and preferences. (Surveys can also be conducted via phone or snail mail.) We asked how often people visited the Web site, what they thought about Dr. Love’s work in the breast cancer movement, and how they liked to be contacted. We also asked questions about giving patterns, such as “Do you support other breast cancer organizations?” Picking the right – or wrong – questions is a sensitive business and central to a survey’s success, and we avoided specifics about giving amounts so as not to be too intrusive. (See sidebar for tips on survey research.)We supplemented these surveys with informal focus groups – small numbers of carefully selected individuals who share their opinions in a moderated roundtable discussion. Our focus groups were asked about their thoughts and feelings about Dr. Love, her foundation, and breast cancer organizations in general. (See sidebar at far right for tips on focus groups.)

Finding Focus With Focus Groups

A United Way affiliate has boosted its fundraising by breaking the rules

A Bold Idea Takes ShapeCorporate Cornerstones resulted from a fact-finding project that UWCNM launched in 1997. The project’s mission was to find out why people object to donating to charities in general, and to the United Way in particular. The agency found that two concerns top donors’ lists: nonprofits might use part of the gift to cover administrative costs, and donors might have no say in who benefits from the remainder of their pledge