1. Thank You for the Dream You Sent Me Once upon a time (1989), a little girl named Amy sent a bottle of colored water, oil and glitter to Roald Dahl, who knew right away that this was a dream in a bottle inspired by his book, The BFG. In response, the author penned this short note to his 7-year-old fan:

Dear Amy,

I must write a special letter and thank you for the dream in the bottle. You are the first person in the world who has sent me one of these and it intrigued me very much. I also liked the dream. Tonight I shall go down to the village and blow it through the bedroom window of some sleeping child and see if it works.

With love from,
Roald Dahl

2. Thank You for Keeping Me Safe on the Moon When your job involves leaving the planet to walk on the nearest rocky body, it’s important that the people who build your equipment do things the right way. The enormity of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit engineering team’s task—that is, building a spacesuit that kept a man safe and alive on the moon—was not lost on Neil Armstrong, who wrote this letter for the 25th anniversary of the lunar landing.


To the EMU gang:

   I remember noting a quarter century or so ago that an emu was a 6 foot Australian flightless bird. I thought that got most of it right.
    It turned out to be one of the most widely photographed spacecraft in history. That was no doubt due to the fact that it was so photogenic. Equally responsible for its success was its characteristic of hiding from view its ugly occupant.
   Its true beauty, however, was that it worked. It was tough, reliable and almost cuddly.
   To all of you who made it all that it was, I send a quarter century's worth of thanks and congratulations.

Sincerely,
Neil A. Armstrong

3. Thank You for Asking Me to Your Prom  Remember prom? Nikki Simmons probably won’t forget hers, even though the guy she asked had to politely decline. Seems he’d just gotten married and, honestly, he was probably busy.

Dear Nikki -

Thanks for your very flattering offer. It's great to know I have such a devoted fan out there, and I'm sure you would make a great prom date (I didn't go to mine - it's a verysad story).

Unfortunately, I got married recently and my wife doesn't allow me to go to proms anymore with cute 16 year old girls. Still, it was very cool of you to ask me. Thanks and have a great evening.

Your Friend,
Conan

4. Thank You for Not Hitting Me Once upon another time (1974), John Lennon showed up drunk to LA’s Troubadour club and proceeded to heckle the Smothers Brothers during their act. A fight ensued which involved just about everyone, including actress Pam Grier. The next day, she got this letter from Lennon:

Dear Pam,
I apologize for being so rude and thank you for not hitting me.
John Lennon
P.S. Harry Nilsson feels the same way.

5. Thank You for the Champagne Sometimes less is more.
Dear Mr. von Fuehlsdorff:

Thank you for your champagne.
It arrived, I drank it and I was gayer.
Thanks again.

My best,
Marilyn Monroe

6. Thank You for Including Animals in Your Book After reading Yann Martel’s book Life of Pi with his daughter, a fan sat down to write this short note of thanks.

Mr. Martel --
My daughter and I just finished reading Life of Pi together. Both of us agreed we prefer the story with animals.
It is a lovely book — an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling.
Thank you.

Barack Obama

7. Thank You for Making a Fine Car When a product has served you well, it’s always nice to write an appreciative letter to the people who make it. This one allegedly comes from Clyde Barrow, of Bonnie and Clyde notoriety. Legend has it Henry Ford received the letter about a month before Bonnie and Clyde were killed in 1934 while attempting to outrun the police… in a V8-powered Model B Ford. There’s some evidence against the note’s authenticity, but we’re hoping it’s real:

Dear Sir: -

While I still have got breath in my lungs I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have drove Fords exclusivly when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got ever other car skinned and even if my business hasen't been strickly legal it don't hurt enything to tell you what a fine car you got in the V8 -

Yours truly
Clyde Champion Barrow

8. Thank You for the Picture Andy Warhol first printed his Liz series in 1963, but it wasn’t until 1977 that Elizabeth Taylor got her own version of the iconic painting. She didn’t wait 14 years to send Warhol a thank-you:

Dearest Andy

I'm so proud I finally have your "Liz" and thank you for signing it so sweetly to me.

I do love you.

Elizabeth or Liz
(of A.W.'s fame)

9. Thank You for the Music This is just a little note from an actress to the man who composed the score for her recent film. That’s all.

Dear Henry,

I have just seen our picture – BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S – this time with your score.

A movie without music is a little bit like an aeroplane without fuel. However beautifully the job is done, we are still on the ground and in a world of reality. Your music has lifted us all up and sent us soaring. Everything we cannot say with words or show with action you have expressed for us. You have done this with so much imagination, fun and beauty.

You are the hippest of cats – and the most sensitive of composers!

Thank you, dear Hank.

Lots of love
Audrey [Hepburn]

10. Thank You for Coming on Our Show From hosts Dan Rowan and Dick Martin, a uniquely personal note of thanks to a recent guest on Laugh-In:

11. Thank You for Letting Me Be Your President Ronald Reagan wrote this touching open letter to the American people in 1994, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The former president lived another ten years.

My fellow Americans,

I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.

In the past, Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing. They were treated in early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clear understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.

At the moment, I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life's journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer's disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes, I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.

In closing, let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.

Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan

By Maria Di Mento

Avoid discussing religion, money, or politics in polite company, the saying goes. Still, fundraisers have to talk about money all the time, and occasionally religion, particularly if they work for a faith-based nonprofit.  

But politics? In today’s contentious political climate, the topic has the potential to derail conversations with your donors. As the race to choose the next U.S. president intensifies, fundraisers should double down on their efforts to leave political views out of their conversations with philanthropists, say experts.

One of the best and easiest ways to do that, says Daniel Post Senning, an etiquette expert, author, and the great-great-grandson of Emily Post, is to remember the fundamentals of all etiquette: consideration, respect, and honesty.

If you’re talking to a donor and the subject of the election comes up, use those principles to guide yourself, says Mr. Post Senning.

An important part of etiquette, he adds, is keeping your audience comfortable. That should remain top of mind even when other people aren’t practicing that principle themselves.

No matter what happens, he says, remember that everyone has a right to his or her opinion, and you can acknowledge someone’s opinion without agreeing with it or revealing where you stand on the subject. 

“You’re not obligated to tell someone what you think,” he says. “You can always say you are uncomfortable talking about something, or that you don’t know what you think about it.” He suggests practicing in advance so you have a response ready that makes you feel comfortable. “Say it out loud so you hear it out loud and know how it sounds,” he says.

Developing and practicing different responses is key to gracefully navigating such conversations, agrees Janet Harris, chief philanthropy officer at the California Academy of Sciences. And veteran gift officers, she says, should help their less experienced colleagues figure out how to respond in such cases.

One of the most useful lessons a senior fundraiser can teach younger counterparts about dealing with these difficult conversations, she says, is the importance of listening. 

“When you truly listen to philanthropists, it’s so important to understand what motivates them and what their attitudes are,” says Ms. Harris. “You don’t have to agree with everything or put a gag over your mouth, but listening shows them respect.”

Listening also gives you information about what a donor cares about so you can redirect a conversation that has become uncomfortable to a point of commonality, says Aristide Collins Jr., vice president of development and alumni relations at George Washington University. 

Being able to listen closely and to exercise discretion in these types of conversations, says Mr. Collins, are key to showing your donors respect. So is remembering that the conversation is not about you and your viewpoints, he says, but something bigger. 

“The relationship donors have is really with the organization, and gift officers are merely the conduit,” he says. “It’s not that the donor is a friend of yours, it’s that the donor is a friend of the institution.”

Gift officers, he says, should repeatedly remind themselves that they’re the caretakers of the nonprofit and the guardians of a donor’s relationship with that organization. 

For fundraisers who struggle to keep sight of this, Mr. Collins says, “It’s easy when you remember that your job is part of something larger than you and your perspectives.”

Tips:

•    Let donors feel comfortable expressing opinions, even when they conflict with your own strongly held points of view.
•    Avoid saying where you stand on controversial issues or public figures.
•    Before meeting with a donor, practice using language that will steer the conversation to a different topic.
•    Always listen carefully to your donors, even during difficult moments. They may reveal valuable information about things that matter to them — insights that can help you as a fundraiser.
•    Remember that you speak for your institution, and your job is about something much bigger than your one-on-one interactions with a donor.

Reprinted by permission from the Chronicle of Philanthropy

~ ~ ~

Non-profit overhead
By Seth Godin
Skeptical non-donors often point to the amount a charity spends on non-direct spending as a reason to hesitate in contributing. It’s easy to imagine that a cause that spends 90% of what it raises on direct action (not HQ, not salaries, not fundraising) is better than one that spends 80%.

We say we care about overhead, but what we really care about is impact, or status, or momentum. What we measure isn’t a simple percentage, it’s a lot deeper than that.

Waste isn’t a good thing. Of course not. But leaving aside the football teams and the jets at some colleges, those high salaries at some non-profits might just be buying insights and effort that you can’t get any other way. And those leaders might be bringing strategic insights and efficiencies to their cause that a well-meaning bootstrapper just can’t deliver.

Everywhere else in our lives, we happily invest in the best solution to our problem. Whether it’s surgery, vegetables or a designer, we seek to invest in expertise and resources that not only fit our budget but get the job done.

If a problem is worth solving, it’s worth engaging with the right people to solve it with urgency, isn’t it?

Last week at the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Conference in San Francisco, Janet Brown, the CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts in Seattle and I did another presentation on the proper capitalization of not-for-profit organizations.  

Over time, we have expanded our message and were asked to be a part of the Rebels, Renegades, and Pioneers track, a series of seven provocative discussions on the glories, the shortcomings, and the future of the nonprofit world. It was an honor and AFP said, "The speakers featured in this 'conference within a conference' are the innovators, big thinkers, and troublemakers who don’t just think outside the box … they burn the box and scatter the ashes." Well, that's a bit of hyperbole, but it was fun to talk about things that are usually hush-hush in the nonprofit world.

We discussed the need for nonprofits to radically change the way they capitalize their organizations.  The presentation was called “Is Your Business Model Broken? The Truth About Fundraising and Capitalization.”

It is essential that we start to build capital reserves and healthy balance sheets into our operating and fundraising assumptions. Planning for financial surpluses and rewarding strong operating reserves is what proper capitalization is all about.  We have to fundamentally change how we do business while recognizing that overhead, administration and operating costs DO exist and are part of a vibrant organization.  Successful nonprofit organizations have to spend money to make money and to provide their programming.

Just breaking-even at the end of the year does NOT mean success. We DON'T need an endowment if we can't make payroll.  It is time to step back and challenge these long-too-held assumptions, challenging how flawed planning, communications, and funding norms perpetuate our broken business models.

Proper capitalization not only allows us to operate day-to-day but gives a chance to take a risk and seize opportunities.  It allows us to weather change and recover from the storm.  Capital supports acquisitions or upgrades and helps us meet future facility and equipment needs.  

​It is important that we now elevate knowledge of capitalization for nonprofits.  That will require that we build a shared vocabulary to transform our fundraising and financial practices and provide insights into the impact of proper capitalization. For the last six years, Janet Brown and Grantmakers in the Arts has researched how under-capitalization is causing the chronic weakness undermining the vitality of our sector.  They have convened organizations in fourteen cities around the country to test their model and emphasize that capitalization IS the means to non-profit success.

The Non-Profit Times were kind enough to do a story on our presentation:

The Truth About Fundraising and Capitalization
 

​​

May 2, 2018
      
Nonprofit sector leaders have fooled themselves into thinking that breaking even at the end of the year means success, or that an endowment is needed in the struggle to pay the bills. It’s time to step back and challenge these long-too-held assumptions, challenge how flawed planning, communications and funding norms perpetuate our broken business models.

The session was headlined “Is Your Business Model Broken? The Truth About Fundraising and Capitalization,” part of the “Rebels, Renegades & Pioneers” track at the AFP International Fundraising Conference with Janet Brown, president and CEO of Grantmakers in the Arts in Seattle, and Brian Bonde, ACFRE, chair of the AFP Foundation for Philanthropy and president of Advanced Certified Fundraising in Sioux Falls, S.D.

They explained that proper capitalization not only allows you to operate day-to-day but also gives you a chance to take a risk and seize opportunities. “It allows you to weather change and recover from the storm. Capital supports acquisitions or upgrades and helps you meet future facility and equipment needs,” they say.

Brown and Bonde advised that it is time to unabashedly build capital reserves and healthy balance sheets into your operating and fundraising assumptions. “Planning for financial surpluses and rewarding strong operating reserves is what proper capitalization is all about,” they pointed out. “You can fundamentally change how you do business while recognizing that successful nonprofit organizations do have overhead, administration and operating costs.”

Furthermore, it is important that knowledge of capitalization for nonprofits now be elevated. “This will require that you build a shared vocabulary to transform your fundraising and financial practices and provide insights into the impact of proper capitalization,” Brown added.
​
For example, for the past six years, Grantmakers in the Arts has researched how undercapitalization is causing the chronic weakness undermining the vitality of the nonprofit sector. They have convened organizations in 14 cities around the country to test their model and emphasize that capitalization is the means to success.

​Individuals, organizations or foundations that provide financial support to nonprofits can (maybe should) wonder about the impact their support is having and whether it can be utilized to greater effect.

This can be especially true for those entities helping arts or cultural nonprofits, which provide a benefit that cannot always be quantified.

Speaking during the Association of Fundraising Professionals International Fundraising Conference, Janet Brown of Grantmakers in the Arts and Brian Bonde of Advanced Certified Fundraising, provided five suggestions for funders about the help they provide to arts/cultural groups.

* Be clear about your chosen role. Are you a “buyer” (a source of ongoing revenue) or a “builder” (a source of periodic capital)? Funders can play one or both of these necessary roles, but each role requires a different kind of investment strategy.

* If you are a buyer (who provides revenue), fund programs and projects at full cost, supplemented by unrestricted support. Funders who  invest in program expansion without supporting related operating costs are encouraging organizations to overextend.

* If you are a builder (who provides capital), orient support to the hierarchy of financial need. Encourage and support organizations to address their liquidity needs first by prioritizing working capital to manage cash-flow cycles and operating reserves to absorb regular operating risk.

* Talk about capitalization principles with organizations. Review business models with applicants and discuss what drives revenue and expenses.
​
* Talk about capitalization principles with other funders. Consider pooling capital resources with like-minded grantmakers.

by The NonProfit Times

by Kevin Feldman
Development Director at Connections for Abused Women and their Children

Democrat dollars spend as well as Republican dollars. To the orphaned child and mother battling breast cancer, your politics is meaningless. What is important is that you and your organization do all that it can to fulfill its Mission and seek out opportunities to do the things that it promises to do.

Conservatives care as much about the homeless, jobless and hurting as do Liberals. Often the difference lies only in the methodology for aiding and curing society's and the world's ills.

I have been a fan of several fundraising gurus and their blogs. In their moment of weakness, some of them have allowed their politics to show through to the detriment of their own fans – without warning readers to remain professionally and publicly neutral in their politics. It's disappointing to see this from those who should know better.

I will keep my mouth shut when I am engaged in conversations with donors, prospects and other nonprofits when these talks turn to politics. As tempting as it may be to share my opinion, I refrain. When I won't keep quiet is when I feel that the representatives of charitable organizations are putting their organizations at risk by engaging in these discussions in the first place.

No matter what side of the recent Presidential Elections you stood, this is a time to not forget why your organization exists, and to look for the opportunities in the new administration for how you and your organization can better serve your clients and your cause. Be very careful not to let the political leanings of you, your staff and Board to reveal itself in the outstanding work of your nonprofit organization. The IRS could not be more clear on this:

"Under the Internal Revenue Code, all section 501(c)(3) organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity. Violating this prohibition may result in denial or revocation of tax-exempt status and the imposition of certain excise taxes.”

You can read this in its full context by visiting the IRS's website.

Again, by not following the IRS rules requiring the political neutrality of 501(c)(3) charities, you not only risk losing your organization's nonprofit status with the IRS, you risk losing financial support from private individual donors, businesses and foundations that support you now, and those that may support you in the future.

Published November 13, 2016 on LinkedIn

by Daryl Upsall, FInstF

​I spend much of my working life speaking at fundraising conferences around the world.  Indeed as I write I am en route to the Finnish fundraising conference in Helsinki. My first AFP (then NSFRE) conference was in Boston just over 20 years ago, and I have been to very many since.

At the AFP International Fundraising Conference this year in Boston, there was a genuine, new buzz and excitement in the air, the likes of which I have not seen so clearly expressed by attendees and presenters before. I would like to think that it was because when planning the conference this time, we changed the structure, themes and format of many of the tracks and sessions. 

Was it because we introduced new and challenging tracks, such as the well-attended and well-received “Rebels, Renegades and Pioneers?”  Or was it that we had sessions which fiercely debated many of the controversial key issues that affect our sector today, including several “sacred cows” of fundraising? I am sure both played a part. 

How to Show Your Impact to Funders in Less than 60 Minutes
By Jim Lynch 

GuideStar recently launched completely redesigned nonprofit profiles. Now, for free, any U.S. charity can expand its GuideStar profile to tell its story to donors and grantmakers. You can have a bronze, silver, or gold seal of transparency in less than a couple of hours. It may be the most useful couple of hours you invest in fundraising this year.

Going Beyond Financial Metrics and the Overhead Myth
Since the mid-1990s, GuideStar has been posting publicly viewable information about every IRS-registered nonprofit organization so that prospective donors and grantmakers can see reputable information about each nonprofit's mission, legitimacy, and finances.

GuideStar has made a big step towards its 2020 strategic goal to provide a much more detailed picture of each organization's charitable work. It went live on January 20, 2016 with a significant upgrade after working for a year in collaboration with BoardSource, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, the D5 Coalition, and Independent Sector.

The new profiles go well beyond the simple financial metrics that had led to the overhead myth. (According to the overhead myth, a charity's legitimacy is largely based on how small its operating expenses are compared with its overall budget.) The new GuideStar profiles instead highlight the progress organizations are making toward accomplishing their overall missions.

There's a new section on "Charting Impact" — five questions that probe the results of a charity's work. GuideStar also added an expanded operations section that includes information on the people, governance practices, and partners that make an organization work. These additions give charities, no matter how small, the chance to have a bronze, silver, or gold seal of transparency.

Jacob Harold, president and CEO of GuideStar, says it this way: "Our new profiles offer enhanced visibility to nonprofits of all sizes. It's important to us that a small, all-volunteer organization has just as much access to GuideStar's 7 million users as a billion-dollar global nonprofit."

Reasons to Update Your GuideStar Profile
One of the biggest fundraising challenges nonprofits face is to stand out among the millions of charities out there. Here are a few reasons why updating your profile is so useful.

• Each year, 7 million people, including individual donors, nonprofit leaders, grantmakers, government officials, academic researchers, and the media, use GuideStar's data to research and make decisions about supporting charities.
• About 35,000 foundation staff members have GuideStar accounts to research the nonprofits that they fund.
• All major U.S.-based donor advised funds, such as Fidelity Charitable, use the service, as do donation services like AmazonSmile, JustGive, Network for Good, and VolunteerMatch.
• GuideStar is being integrated into leading grants management software like Fluxx and MicroEdge.
• Having a full GuideStar profile will save you time in your grant applications. With just a few keystrokes, a nonprofit can automatically add information from its GuideStar Nonprofit Profile to its grant applicationswith participating funders.
• You can get a free KIMBIA online donation button on your online profile page. This free service is especially useful to charities without a website who want a place to send online donors.

How to Claim or Update Your GuideStar Nonprofit Profile

1. Go to guidestar.org/update.
2. Click on the blue Get started now button near the center of the screen.
3. Sign into your account (use your registered email address and password) — or, if you don't have an account, create one.
4. When you're signed in, you should see your organization listed on the page. Click on your organization's name.
5. Follow the on-screen instructions to update your profile.
6. Bask in how awesome you are!

If you don't see your organization's name, you must request permission to manage your organization's profile. To request permission, enter your organization's Employer Identification Number (EIN), click on the Request permission button, enter the required fields, and submit your request. Your request will be approved in one to two business days.​

Choosing Your Level — Bronze, Silver, or Gold 

by Suzanne E. Coffman

​GuideStar, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and Charity Navigator don't ever want to hear you say these words again:

"Only X% of your gift goes to overhead." OR
"Only X cents on the dollar go to overhead costs."

Why? Because you do both your organization and your donors a great disservice when you focus on overhead as the key indicator of your worthiness to receive donations.

Your overhead ratio—the percentage of total expenses devoted to administrative and fundraising costs—tells people nothing about your organization's effectiveness. It fails to measure the most important thing of all: how well your nonprofit is accomplishing its mission.

The heads of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, Charity Navigator, and GuideStar have joined together to demonstrate why the Overhead Myth is harmful and how nonprofits can battle it.

Say Goodbye to the Overhead Myth

In a letter by, Ken Berger (president and CEO of Charity Navigator), Jacob Harold (president and CEO of GuideStar), and Art Taylor (president of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance) they note:

"While overhead can help us identify cases of fraud or gross mismanagement and serve as a part of an organization's dashboard of financial management metrics, it tells us nothing about the results of your work (i.e., how you meet your mission)."
​
[Click here to read the letter]

The focus on overhead, they continue, leads nonprofits to shortchange their organizational needs, which in turn limits their results. In the end, everyone suffers:

"This starvation cycle hurts nonprofits and donors, but, most important, it hurts our shared work for a better world."

We hear you panicking. "Donors expect us to talk about overhead," you say. "If we invest in infrastructure, donors won't give to us."

We can help you with that. In fact, we can all help each other with that.

It's true that over the years, donors have been taught (brainwashed) to rely on overhead ratios to evaluate nonprofits. Working together, however, we in the nonprofit sector can change this state of affairs.

Say Hello to the Overhead Solution

So what exactly do Messrs. Bergen, Harold, and Taylor say you should do? Three things:

• Demonstrate ethical practice and share data about your performance.
• Manage toward results and understand your true costs.
• Help educate funders (individuals, foundations, corporations, and government) on the real cost of results.

​
The letter elaborates on these goals and provides resources to help you achieve them. The Overhead Myth/Overhead Solution website also offers free tools to turn myth into solution.

Working toward the Overhead Solution won't be a quick fix, but it's one whose impact will increase as more nonprofits embrace it. In the words of the three leaders, "Let us drive a conversation about nonprofit trustworthiness and performance that is worthy of the people, the communities, and the ecosystems we all serve."

​Suzanne Coffman is GuideStar's editorial director and editor of the GuideStar Newsletter.
© GuideStar USA, Inc.