Fundraising Talks
News and updates from the USM Office of
Advancement Research
As prospect researchers know, finding the value of a publicly traded company is easy to do. However, how can prospect researchers find the value of a privately held company? This article from The Helen Brown Group discusses simple tricks that can help researchers arrive at a reasonable guess as to the value of a private company. First, try to find a reliable estimate of the company's revenues in news articles from business or industry publications. Next, use that information to find a publicly traded company with similar revenue and a similar line of business. Use a free resource such as the CNBC Stock Screener to do so. Click here to read through the full how-to-guide.
Having a basic understanding of cryptocurrency and the current rules for accepting cryptocurrency can help nonprofits capitalize on this new type of donation. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) defines cryptocurrency as a “type of virtual currency that uses cryptography to secure transactions that are digitally recorded on a distributed ledger.” Unlike traditional U.S. dollars, cryptocurrencies are exclusively digital and not backed by a sovereign government. There are pros and cons to these types of donations. Cryptocurrencies are one of the most transparent ways of exchanging value, they are cost and time efficient, and they avoid capital gains tax. However, cryptocurrencies are new and the market is volatile. They also come with many cybersecurity issues and processing these transactions consumes high quantities of energy, negatively affecting the environment. Want to know more? Click here to see how cryptocurrency is regulated and the documentation needed for cryptocurrency donations.
According to ED Marketing, having your students ask donors for money is not helping your institution's fundraising goals. This tactic is a dime a dozen among higher education institutions. Instead of forcing students, who are not actors, to memorize and deliver a pre-written speech asking for donations, have students share candid and compelling stories about their work without an ask. This is what the University of Manitoba did to reach a $500 million fundraising goal. Similarly, this idea was at the heart of UCLA's Centennial Campaign. Students should remain at the heart of your fundraising story, but they should not be asking for money directly. When done right, potential donors will feel hopeful and inspired by your students and will be more compelled to give. Click here to read more.
If you want to meet your donors where they are, there's no better place to do so than on social media. The Lilly Family School of Philanthropy gives six tips to keep in mind when crafting a social media plan.

  • Decide where to have a social media presence based on what platforms your donors are using.
  • Create a thorough plan.
  • Find partners and influencers that can promote your campaign and grow its audience.
  • Use a platform's built-in fundraising tools (for example, Facebook's event tool.)
  • Tell your story through video. Organic reach for videos on Facebook is 100 times greater than a static image.
  • Celebrate milestones and thank donors.

After the racial reckoning that was ushered in by the Black Lives Matter movement, there was an increase in philanthropic support to HBCUs. How can HBCUs maintain and increase this level of support moving forward? Brandy Jackson, Ph.D. student and Assistant Dean for Enrollment and Student Affairs for Howard University’s School of Education, suggests the following:

  • Create a culture of philanthropy.
  • Invest in alumni engagement and alumni giving.
  • Recruit corporate leaders to boards.
  • Share HBC narratives.