1. Grant-Making Forecast: How Charities Can Make Effective Appeals in 2010 and Beyond http://ow.ly/Mp4Q
2. UK phasing out checks! Is the US next? Fundraisers, are you ready? (Hint: If you’re reading this, you are!) http://ow.ly/Nm1k
3. Speed dating meets fundraising consulting in NYC: http://ow.ly/N1yO Great idea!
4. 5 Most Charitable American Cities: http://ow.ly/N7pl Do you agree?
5. Garth Brooks demands return of $500K donation to Integris Canadian Valley Reg. Hosp. after naming rights battlehttp://ow.ly/N4UF
6. Great e-invite to the @charitywater ball! http://ow.ly/LWyF Inspiring for NPOs seeking new supporters via social media. Via @jack
7. Chase and @Facebook announce 100 small and local charities to receive $25,000 each from Chase Community Giving http://ow.ly/Nojc
8. 11 Asian American philanthropy bloggers http://ow.ly/MK2h
9. Country-pop star @taylorswift13 gives $250,000 to education to mark her 20th birthday http://ow.ly/MKse
10. Why do fundraisers leave? Where do they go? What do they want? Penelope Burk’s findings: http://ow.ly/M2vR Via@BethanyDeines

Other less popular but arguably equally important items tweeted this week include:

• Ted & Jane Von Voigtlander Foundation gives $15 million to the University of Michigan Health System  (http://ow.ly/MlzU)
• Alphawood Foundation of Chicago awards $10 million to the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park (http://ow.ly/NnMQ)
• Actor Alec Baldwin gives $1 million to NYU’s Tisch School (http://ow.ly/N7Eu)
• Oprah Winfrey gives $1.5 million to the Ron Clark Academy  (http://ow.ly/NnHC)
• Michael Birch, founder of Bebo, issues $1 million challenge at Charity: Water auction  (http://ow.ly/Mn08)
• Jan Moran issues $500,000 challenge grant for Project Safe Place  (http://ow.ly/NnkB)
• The impact of social networking on prospect research (http://ow.ly/NeMw)
• Online holiday giving could top $4 billion, a $900 million increase over last year’s holiday season (http://ow.ly/M1Gi)
• £3 million raised online in just two hours in The Big Give (http://ow.ly/NwGv)
• Center on Philanthropy issues new Giving Index (http://ow.ly/N59s)
• 13 best social media practices at the top 200 US nonprofits  (http://ow.ly/N4Es)
• Facebook guesstimates the ethnic breakdown of its members (http://ow.ly/N0QK)
• Fascinating study comparing content sharing practices with email, Facebook and Twitter  (http://ow.ly/MIPc)
• The value of a celebrity to a not-for-profit organization (http://ow.ly/N9Rj)
• The China Philanthropist Network Roundtable debuts (http://ow.ly/Nogt)
• Major study underway of private contributions to European universities (http://ow.ly/No3z)
• Milton Murray, global fundraising giant, passes away (http://ow.ly/MseH)
• Roy E. Disney, icon & philanthropist, dies at 79  (http://ow.ly/N4sa)

Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/gordonjayfrost) to see all the individual tweets during the week and see my new lists of top people on Twitter (http://twitter.com/GordonJayFrost/lists)!

1. @rosettathurman posts her “Top 20 Nonprofit News Sources and Thought Leaders on Twitter” http://ow.ly/Ki9V
2. What’s the best nonprofit to work for in 2009? Nominate yours today! http://ow.ly/IHrz
3. Philanthropist @jnovogratz of @acumenfund named one of the “25 Smartest People of the Decade” http://ow.ly/KfcR Via@KepplerSpeakers
4. Lorry Lokey gives $110M to Silicon Valley Community Foundation http://ow.ly/Ko1j
5. John Cuneo Jr. gives $50 million estate to Loyola Universityhttp://ow.ly/JD5b
6. The controversy over charity gift cards http://ow.ly/KYgX How do you use gift cards at your organization?
7. RT @sdeclomesnil: 86% of US women have a profile on at least one social network http://ow.ly/L2MI Complete study:http://ow.ly/L3de
8. @Philanthropy reports congress agrees to @BarackObama ’s $50M Social Innovation Fund http://ow.ly/KARd Is this what NPOs really need?
9. Facebook Will Be Google-able (If Your Profile is Set to Public)http://ow.ly/JEUO
10. Update on the Chase $5M charitable giveaway on FB!http://ow.ly/KYnx Have you voted? Tonight’s the deadline!http://ow.ly/KYqw

Other less popular but arguably equally important items tweeted this week include:

• Anonymous donors give $12M to Gann Academy in Waltham, MA:  http://ow.ly/J2Go
• Leichtag Family Foundation donates $10 million to @ScrippsHealth: http://ow.ly/KYcH
• @IJNET wins $6M from @knightfdn to extend high-impact journalism fellowships & create Chinese-language service: http://ow.ly/KZX9
• Ireland Grants $3.5 Million for Irish Arts Center in New York: http://ow.ly/KZuB
• @UofMaryland receives $1 Million from Cafritz Foundation: http://ow.ly/JSHl
• Volunteers give 10 times more than other Americans: http://ow.ly/JuWX
• “30 Entrepreneurs Who Are Saving the World”:  http://ow.ly/J2Co
• BlackGivesBack.com’s Top Ten Black Celebrity Philanthropists of 2009:  http://ow.ly/JUHF
• Information on the Center for Arab American Philanthropy:  http://ow.ly/JVMS
• Russians Now Big Players in American Jewish Philanthropy: http://ow.ly/KZEI
• Charitable giving going far in China: http://ow.ly/L0Aw
• · New Study: Commitment to social media = greater financial growth:  http://ow.ly/Jv1P
• David Gelbaum, who gave the @ACLU, @Sierra_Club & CA Comm. Fdn over $380M since ‘05, sharply reduces his giving: http://ow.ly/KYJv
• Lots and lots of great fundraising and research job openings around the world.

Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/gordonjayfrost) to see all the individual tweets during the week and see my new lists of top people on Twitter (http://twitter.com/GordonJayFrost/lists)!

1. Barron’s list of the 25 most effective givers. http://ow.ly/GvvY Via@lblumenthal Wonder how many are on Twitter?
2. Find (most of) Barron’s “Best 25 Givers” on Twitter here: http://ow.ly/GZOT
3. RT @rosettathurman: Shawn says philanthropic institutions don’t really have authentic relationships w/communities of colorhttp://ow.ly/HT8U
4. A New Twitter List: NPO Bloggers of Color on Twitter:http://ow.ly/HRna Inspired by @RosettaThurman’s blog (http://ow.ly/HQqn)
5. RT @PamelaGrow: Twitter declared most popular word of 2009: http://ow.ly/H7SC
6. 6 agencies subjective measures of NPO effectiveness vs. overhead ratios measuring efficiency: http://ow.ly/HXaM What’s better?
7. Carrie Underwood gives $200,000 to The Humane Society of the United States http://ow.ly/IGuq
8. A stock exchange for charities? http://ow.ly/HB2G I say: It’s about time! What do you think? Comment!
9. Brilliant, fun & quick video on ROI for social media from@equalman: http://ow.ly/IiTq Show it to the doubters at your org!
10. The Top 100 Global Thinkers from Foreign Policy Magazine:http://ow.ly/Hc4W Via @OnlyFoundations & @acumenfund

Other less popular but arguably equally important items tweeted this week include:

• a gift of $10 million from Jeff Bezos to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (http://ow.ly/IGq3);
• an anonymous contribution of $2.5 million to Catholic University (http://ow.ly/IGsn);
• Dr. Marques Allen’s donation of $100,000 to Rowan University (http://ow.ly/IGte);
• an uplifting survey by the Red Cross on giving this season (http://ow.ly/IA03);
• an article on the growth of organized philanthropy in the Arab world (http://ow.ly/HwfW);
• coverage on the trend of major donors to look for ROI and transparency in giving (http://ow.ly/IzCG); and,
• a continuous stream of great fundraising and research job openings around the world.

Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/gordonjayfrost) to see all the individual tweets during the week and see my new lists of top people on Twitter (http://twitter.com/GordonJayFrost/lists)!

1. Ways for NPOs to build a Twitter Following! http://ow.ly/FBJ3 Via @SmartNonprofits @Philanthropy411 & @Twitter_Tips
2. See this movie. Pass it on. http://ow.ly/FijW A great reminder of the power of kindness as we enter the holiday season!
3. Seth Goldman of @HonestTea riffs on corporate philanthropy vs. corporate social responsibility: http://ow.ly/ECm7 What do you think?
4. A must-read for fundraisers & researchers: The Weekly Major Gift Summary http://ow.ly/FA35 $574 million in gifts this week alone!
5. Indiana University Receives $10 Million for Breast Cancer Research http://ow.ly/Fd0s Via @BethanyDeines & @pndblog
6. Get 15k people to each give $50 online! @huffingtonpostprofiles @RobinHoodNYC web 2.0 fundraising effort!http://ow.ly/FCpJ
7. Abe Pollin, Washington Wizards owner and philanthropist, dies at 85 http://ow.ly/FxQI
8. The Asian perspective on the current financial crisis and what’s ahead for fundraising. Great piece by @usha_ http://ow.ly/EHvT
9. RT @askdebra: Do you know all the great ways you can search Twitter? 13 examples for Nonprofits by @franswaahttp://ow.ly/EZWd
10. “Saving Philanthropy” – Moving from Charity to Social Investing, an interesting new documentary in progress http://ow.ly/F01G

Other less popular but perhaps equally important items tweeted this week included a gift of $5 million from Jenny and John Paulson to Southampton Hospital (http://ow.ly/FyfP), a donation of $1 million from actor/director Tyler Perry to the NAACP (http://ow.ly/Fy8b), a gift of $1 million from Mary Cohen to  the Nerman Museum (http://ow.ly/Fzwm), a list of the top 100 US Foundations from the Foundation Center (http://ow.ly/EWVF), a list of the 200 largest US charities from Forbes (http://ow.ly/Fy1b), Eli Broad’s choices for the top seven US philanthropists in Forbes (http://ow.ly/Fhi0), and lots of fundraising and research jobs everywhere.   Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/gordonjayfrost) to see all the individual tweets during the week and to explore my new Twitter lists of top people on Twitter!

1. Where fundraisers plan to spend their money next yearhttp://ow.ly/DLLp #1 is Online fundraising. Surprised? Me neither!
2. Are you an arts leader? Please take a few minutes for this survey from Americans for the Arts! http://ow.ly/DLXQ
3. Fundraisers & Prospect Researchers Take Note: “DataMyning” is one of the “Ten Crucial Consumer Trends for 2010″!http://ow.ly/DaNh
4. Chase commits $5 million to Facebook charity campaignhttp://ow.ly/DUM3
5. NGOs and the News: Exploring a Changing Communication Landscape http://ow.ly/DLIv
6. Vote for your favorite local NPO to receive $25K from Chase!http://ow.ly/D9EM Via @cfnoble @holtmurray & @nonprofitorgs
7. Tap into the Strengths of Millennials: http://ow.ly/DLva Good piece by @christinagsmith but practical advice or youth obsession?
8. Get @iWavePRO free for a day in celebration of National Philanthropy Day! http://ow.ly/DM44
9. @NonProfitTimes releases invaluable annual NPT 100, a study of largest nonprofits in U.S. http://ow.ly/C44e

Other less popular but perhaps equally important items tweeted this week included a gift of $20 million from Hedge Fund Founder John Paulson to NYU (http://ow.ly/DIZR) , a pledge of $7 million by Brazillian billionaire Eike Batista for pop star Madonna’s welfare projects (http://ow.ly/DV0l), Holy Cross Hospital’s decision to return a $1 million gift from alleged Ponzi scheme lawyer Scott Rothstein (http://ow.ly/DUvG), a great presentation on “50 Social Media Tactics for NPOs” from Blackbaud’s @chadnorman (http://ow.ly/E0w6), some great tips on emergency funding sources for NPOs from @NonprofitSRQ (http://ow.ly/E1SP), a great pep talk  on the current status of fundraising in social media from always marvelous @kanter (http://ow.ly/E0KH) and a bunch of fundraising jobs everywhere, including one of the top consultancy posts in the country (http://ow.ly/CNEg).   Follow me on Twitter (http://twitter.com/gordonjayfrost) to see all the individual tweets during the week and to explore my new Twitter lists of top people on Twitter!

Today on PRSPCT-L–the fantastic, freewheeling chatroom of the fundraising research world–a seasoned “listerine” posed some important questions for everyone in fundraising.  The subject: Doing more with less.

She wrote, “I’m wondering if any of you have had to drop your subscriptions due to budget cuts. Is anyone making use of only free resources?  Do you feel that most information you used to pay for is available free — even if free information-gathering is more time-consuming  — or if the quality of the information you can provide is lessened due to loss of paid resources?”

On one level, this seems a simple matter.  Times are tough.  Cut some costs, work hard and make do.  But is it really a question of whether or not to use Google vs. Lexis Nexis?  Let’s take a look.

Clearly, an increasing volume of data is now free and easily accessible.  At the same time, it’s difficult to know if the data in free and fee-based products is really the same since details are not readily available online and the people behind the sites are almost impossible to reach.

Here’s an insider perspective: A few years ago, I worked at a company that keyed data from a public source and resold it in different “flavors” to various online providers.  On one free redistributor’s site, the data was broad but not deep.  In other word’s, it had lots of detail but it only went back two years while paying customers had fourteen years of data!  Also, the search functionality and formatting differed considerably.  If you looked up a person’s stockholdings in one “cheap” source, you would be greeted with pages upon pages of transactions.  In the other, “premium” source, all the transactions were compiled into a few handy, clear and easily understandable dollar figures, saving as much as 30 minutes to an hour of calculations.

Those kinds of differences exist across many products in fundraising research.  However, many in fundraising tend to think of these very different data sets in broadly generic terms.  This would be like perceiving both morphine and aspirin as merely “painkillers”–in a sense, that’s true, but that characterization doesn’t properly distinguish between two entirely different substances that generate very different results.

Then there’s the issue of expense.  But that’s not as clear cut as it first appears, either.  After all, it’s not the research resource that’s the big expense, it’s the person using it!  For example, a researcher earning $35,000 plus benefits costs an institution about $0.47/minute, not including supervision, resources, space allocation and professional development, among other things.  That may not sound like much but it adds up quickly.  Both in the cost of having the researcher do something and, more importantly, the additional cost of NOT doing something potentially more important.  Using free but less efficient products actually exacerbates this problem, driving up internal costs and reducing fundraising opportunities overall.

A case in point is address updating.  Nonprofits need to update addresses because not doing so would both waste money on printing, postage and time and limit potential revenue.  This is well understood and the reason why so many organizations use services like AlumniFinder to recover “lost” constituents.  But many also spend their own time looking up these records one at a time online assuming that is the least expensive way to get the job done.

It’s not.

Every time a fundraiser or researcher looks something up, even on a free resource, there is a cost associated with that work.  A five-minute Google search: Between $4 and $7.  Research ten addresses a week over the year: Up to $3,600 a year!  And if prospecting is put aside, even for a moment here and a minute there to “save” money by using less efficient “free” resources, the cumulative annual effect is hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in lost or delayed fundraising revenue.  On the other hand, running addresses through in a batch with AlumniFinder means that all the work is done quickly, consistently and inexpensively, saving hours and hours of time for prospecting, rating and strategy setting.  Spend a little up front, save a lot–and potentially make a lot more–on the back end.

If understanding prospects and donors is truly central to development, we’ve got to continually invest in the tools to our success.  First, we need researchers to conduct research and not fundraisers as fundraisers need to be out developing relationships and soliciting support.  Second, we need to spend money on proper research resources that drive knowledge and efficiency.   Because when it comes to time, we can’t afford to be penny wise and pound foolish.

10,000 arts organizations will die this year!

That is the dire warning of a report by Bob Lynch of Americans for the Arts in a report from USA Today which was covered in depth on the great blog of Beth Kanter.  So is it true?  It appears so.  But only if you believe that arts organizations must be at the mercy of the economic crisis rather than rising to meet the challenge.

I began my career at the National Endowment for the Arts and remember how critical our grants were to organizations and individual artists, not only for the money they provided but also because of the government’s seal of approval. Grants were determined not by local arts agencies but by peer panel review. Every dollar was a reflection of what leading talents thought was important to support, whether it was the tried and true or the challenging and new, and other donors knew it. Questions on the organizational applications addressed audience size, underserved populations, overall budget and sources of support, all important to evaluating which organization provided the greatest value and where the grant might have the greatest impact.

To my recollection, however, we did not ask specific questions about individual financial support. I learned how important this characteristic of organizational independence and sustainability was after I left the Endowment and began consulting on major gifts.

I was surprised when I learned how many organizations felt uneasy about generating revenue outside ticket sales and institutional support. Most vivid in my mind is a conversation with a nationally recognized alternative presenter in New England who told me, “if I have $5,000 to spend, I’d rather spend it on writing a proposal to a foundation than identifying my wealthy supporters.” Then the stunning admission: “I really don’t want to talk with those people anyway.”

Now, I wouldn’t apply this one person’s aversion to “rich people” to all arts organizations. It would be safe to assume that the vast majority of organizational leaders are well aware of the immense and sincere contributions made by individual donors from the time of the Medicis to the millions given for creative writing at Wesleyan just weeks ago.

At the same time, I’m unconvinced that there is great comfort at smaller organizations with reaching out to affluent supporters individually and sharing power at the leadership level. And this, I believe, is precisely what could help ensure survival in times like these.  But we’ve got to change the mindset to do it.

Just this week, one of the fundraising listserves had a lively exchange on the subject of how to manage constituent data. While universities try to argue for individual records on each constituent, some organizations group them together in families, almost as if it is the household purchasing tickets, attending functions, etc. On one level, this was a technical discussion (“what will our software allow us to do?”). But on another level, this is symptomatic of the desire to direct market to a physical address rather than to actively engage in a real partnership with successful individuals outside the arts in order to build and sustain arts organizations.

I believe a major gifts orientation can be especially useful now because it is wealthy individuals who have best weathered the financial storm. And while most people might be generous of heart by nature, it is clear that organizations which have made a commitment to building a major gifts program, which includes staffing and resources, raise more money from individuals.

While Bob Lynch may be right about the danger arts organizations are in today, I do think those same organizations have at least a partial remedy at their disposal: A network of individual supporters waiting for someone to knock on their door and say, “how can we work together to save and advance this thing we both love so well?”

Less than six weeks into the new year.  Just days after the Chronicle of Philanthropy predicted a down year for big gifts.  The first $100 million + charitable gift has been recorded.

As noted in the Big Gifts blog, Philip T. and Susan M. Ragon have pledged $100 million to a consortia of leading Boston institutions to develop an effective vaccine against AIDS.

This is not just a big gift.  It is a BHAG gift.  It carries with it, as authors Collins and Porras might say, a Big Hairy Audacious Goal.  This is an era when a candidate ran and won with an audacity of hope and donors are now similarly willing to take on the seemingly impossible.

The question now is if these are the last brave donors willing to focus all available resources on a seemingly intractable problem and dare to fix it?

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It has been quiet on the Frost on Fundraising blog for a few days.  No, it wasn’t a case of pneumonia after returning from the inauguration.  I have been busy launching a group of free websites that address some of the perpetual information needs in fundraising.  Let me explain…

I belong to a large number of lists for fundraisers, prospect researchers, grantmakers and others in philanthropy.  Most are wonderful.  I must admit, however, that I am puzzled by about half the posts on the lists.  They go something like this:

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