It’s hard to believe that we’re already well into September and it’s time to start thinking about year-end audits. This year, many social good organizations will be having virtual audits, and now is the time to learn about how best to prep for them.
Mel Rancour, principal instructional designer for Blackbaud University’s Organizational Best Practices curriculum, joins today’s episode to talk about why you want to begin audit prep now, how this year is going to differ from previous years, and resources to help you get started with your preparations.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Webinar: Preparing for a Virtual Audit
Blackbaud University Organizational Best Practices Curriculum: Year-End and Audit Plans
Quotes:
“Well, it is 2020, which has been a year full of changes and differences in policies and procedures and really any organizational and personal norms.”
“When you think about it, our policies and procedures for just about everything have changed.”
“Don’t forget, these guidelines need to be electronic.”
Too many nonprofits overlook the opportunities for planned giving. While planned giving may not be the most typical type of gift, it can be a powerful driver of growth for nonprofit organizations and can be a way of deepening donor relationships.
To talk about the modern landscape of planned giving, today’s guest is Patrick Schmitt. Patrick is the co-founder and co-CEO of FreeWill, a company that specializes in modernizing how organizations can take advantage of planned giving. Listen in to hear what Patrick has to say about how the thinking around planned giving is changing, how organizations can incorporate planned giving into their strategy, and how to steward donors through the planned giving process.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
Quotes:
“We made it so easy for people to give 10 dollars, and yet in some cases, quite hard for them to give a hundred thousand dollars or a million dollars in the same way.”
“It behooves you to start much earlier than people do traditionally, to secure planned giving donors.”
“In some ways, we always talk about how fundraising is a highly specialized skill, and it is, but also, humans are humans.”
We’ve seen evolving challenges and change of 2020, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the racial justice movement. From economic challenges to increased service delivery demands, social good organizations have been impacted in many ways. While it is difficult to determine the future extent of economic impacts, there are valuable insights to be gleaned from historic trends in giving.
In today’s episode, Ashley Thompson, Managing Director of the Blackbaud Institute, discusses the Institute’s new State of the Social Sector series with host Steve MacLaughlin. Listen to the interview to hear Ashley talk about what the data indicates about the social sector right now, how organizations can remain resilient and why organizations should look at history to help inform future actions.
Topics Discussed in This Episode:
Resources:
State of the Social Sector Series
Quotes:
“As we all know, 2020 is shaping up to be a real mixed bag.”
“What’s interesting, though, is that you see this continuation of generosity, kind of through the ages.”
“We talk about retention, and we talk about retention, and we talk about retention, but unfortunately, it’s still the same case.”