From March to May of this year, Canadian Fundraising & Philanthropy and Innovative Research Group surveyed Canadian nonprofit organizations, the consultants that serve them, and the foundations that support them. Our goal: to take the pulse of the sector after a year that brought recovery from the 2008 downturn to some charities, but continued uncertainty to others.

Here are some of the highlights we heard. 

Fundraising improved or stable for many

Fundraising revenues were up for one-third (34 per cent) of respondents, stable for another third (34 per cent). Size was no guarantee of success or stability. Thirty-eight per cent of large nonprofits reported increased revenue, but another 38 per cent saw a decline. Smallest nonprofits were more likely than any other group to maintain stable fundraising results (45 per cent).

Nonprofit leaders seldom have their own speechwriters. So here are some tips from Fletcher Dean, director, executive speechwriting for Dow Chemical. Some of his insights are equally useful for appeal letters.

Dean uses as an example the worst speech he’s ever read, one he unearthed while researching a presentation for a Dow executive. “Off to a slow start, it meanders through a torpid middle and ends up slogging to its bland finale,” he recalls. “There are so many problems it could stand as a recipe for failure.”

Boring opening

If you spend more than 30 seconds saying “thank you for inviting me,” “thank you for this opportunity” and so on, Dean warns you’re going to lose your audience. Get to the meat fast, he advises.

With every gala, fun run, charity walk or fundraising event, the need for and the pursuit of sponsors becomes a focus of those trying to use these events to raise funds and awareness for their organizations. In the charitable sector marketplace new and bigger events begin on what seems like a daily basis.

The corporate partners approached to sponsor such events are feeling new pressures to listen to support these groups. But they’re evaluating such proposals against an ever-increasing sense of their own corporate purpose and strategic objectives.

Even with the increasing sophistication of the charitable sector in how it appeals to corporations, acquiring sponsors remains a difficult task. In some cases it is still a “hit and miss” process.

The Aviva Community Fund competition is back for its second year with its award pool doubled to $1 million. The competition is the brainchild of Aviva, which bills itself as “one of the leading property and casualty insurance groups in Canada.” The call for submissions opens September 27, but the pre-launch websites are up now, packed with ideas on putting together a compelling entry.

Plenty has been written, some of it in this publication, about the challenges of multiple generations working together: how to communicate to older and younger colleagues, how to manage older or younger staff. Jeff Brooks notes that the differences in effective fundraising copy for donors of different age groups can be equally dramatic.

Brooks starts with a study that popped up on Brent Bouchez’ Engage:Boomers advertising blog this summer. It’s not some merchandising fad, but a reputable research report from the Stanford Graduate School of Business about age and the meaning of happiness. And its two conclusions ring true.