Nonprofit News

Can my organization properly respond to a succession emergency? Are we preparing emerging leaders to move up in the organization and fill future vacancies? Succession planning is a topic that keeps many nonprofit leaders up at night with questions like these. 

In 2016, Campbell & Company interviewed over a dozen leaders in environmental and conservation organizations to explore challenges facing the sector. Succession planning emerged as a trending topic in these conversations, so we decided to dive deeper in 2018. 

We spoke with 12 representatives—including board members, incoming leaders, and outgoing leaders—from five conservation-related organizations to learn about their experiences with succession planning and leadership development.  

Can my organization properly respond to a succession emergency? Are we preparing emerging leaders to move up in the organization and fill future vacancies? Succession planning is a topic that keeps many nonprofit leaders up at night with questions like these. 

In 2016, Campbell & Company interviewed over a dozen leaders in environmental and conservation organizations to explore challenges facing the sector. Succession planning emerged as a trending topic in these conversations, so we decided to dive deeper in 2018. 

We spoke with 12 representatives—including board members, incoming leaders, and outgoing leaders—from five conservation-related organizations to learn about their experiences with succession planning and leadership development.

Major giving is a critical part of funding for California nonprofits, which is why fundraisers and consultants are constantly discussing major giving best practices. But are these approaches working in practice?

In 2018, Campbell & Company set out to answer this question. Through a comprehensive survey and a series of interviews, we gathered information from California nonprofits across sectors to understand how organizations are approaching major giving and what is working well. 

Download the study to review our research findings.

#GivingTuesday is only a couple months away, and November 27th will be here before we know it. Now is the time to start prepping. What does your organization have on the docket? 

After six years of #GivingTuesdays, the Campbell & Company team has learned a lot about what works (and what doesn't) when it comes to this day of global giving. 

Download the Comprehensive Guide to #GivingTuesday to get started on your giving day prep.

Tech donors—philanthropically-inclined individuals who work in the technology industry—are often considered to be an enormous opportunity for nonprofits with their business savvy, financial resources, and vast connections.

But the tech community can be elusive to fundraisers. Tech philanthropists come to the table with new ideas and expectations that charities are not sure they can meet. Can they satisfy the data requirements of tech donors? Can they dedicate resources to innovation? 

Download the study for tips, insights, and tactical tools.

Alumni engagement is a perennial concern among higher education advancement professionals—and for good reason: a strong program can not only sustain your institution's annual fund over the long term, it can also help build your major donor pipeline and provide your school with some of its most effective volunteers.

Although institutions of every stripe would stand to benefit from engaging their alumni more effectively, the challenges of building support among alumni are of particular relevance to small and mid-size liberal arts colleges. These institutions’ strengths and weaknesses present them with a unique set of opportunities and challenges.

Download the report and proprietary maturity model.

Transitioning from the for-profit sphere to the nonprofit sector is a common occurrence for today’s corporate executives. In response to this growing trend, the Campbell & Company Executive Search team launched an initiative to explore the relationship dynamics between formerly corporate CEOs and their CDOs.

Download the full report to review our findings.

With the country at nearly full employment, hiring managers are feeling the pinch of a tight workforce. Traditionally, higher employment signals accelerated turnover and more spirited bidding for top talent.

Even in less competitive talent environments, nonprofits have faced significant challenges in hiring experienced fundraisers for more than a decade. As philanthropic revenues become more important to the success of all organizations, higher education institutions have set ambitious goals for comprehensive campaigns that require large teams of effective fundraisers.

For nonprofit organizations, the decision to embark on a comprehensive campaign can be one of the most significant they will ever make. The magnitude of a campaign raises important questions, such as “who will lead the campaign?” or “are we using our database wisely?”

A campaign also calls forth well-founded worries, such as the perception that the annual fund will suffer. Since the most common early donors to a campaign are those who already make annual gifts, Campbell & Company decided to explore the conventional wisdom that campaigns cannibalize annual giving.