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Author Archives: Alan Cantor
Getting Something for Nothing
Sometimes relatively insignificant measures can assume an absurdly disproportionate importance. For decades U.S. News and World Reports has been ranking the country’s top universities and colleges. These rankings have taken on great importance to college administrators, who routinely crow about … Continue reading
Why Mergers Make Sense… On Occasion
With funding cuts and rising demand for services, nonprofits are in a bind. One reaction – which sometimes makes sense, but often doesn’t – is to consider merging with another organization. After all, if the combined organizations paid only one … Continue reading
Posted in Al's Observations
Tagged industrializers, mergers, prototypers, Thomas A. McLaughlin
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Front Seat, Back Seat
A few weeks ago I was in California on business, and my last evening there I visited the home of my high school friend Dori, now an English professor at a major university. Dori started telling her 12-year-old daughter about … Continue reading
Posted in Al's Observations
Tagged communication, Jamie Dimon, leadership, tandem bicycles
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Learning From Warren
I am pleased to discover that I have a few things in common with Warren Buffett. (Unfortunately, being fabulously wealthy is not one of them.) Like Warren, I’m not one for formalities, and I’m known to appreciate a bargain. So … Continue reading
The First Rule of Business
My friend Rory, who has made a good living selling medical equipment, shook his head describing a failing company. “They violated the first rule of business,” he told me. “Make it easy for people to do business with you!” When … Continue reading
Posted in Al's Observations
Tagged "donate now" buttons, credit card gifts, donations, websites
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How Philanthropy (Strangely Enough) Can Widen the Wealth Divide
With the growing concern about the wealth gap, most of us can at least assume that charitable giving helps in some way to redistribute the wealth from the rich to the poor. After all, a central tenet of charitable giving … Continue reading
The Best Kind of “Ask”
I was giving a fundraising seminar a couple of weeks ago. Most of the audience members were nonprofit CEOs, development directors, and Board members. A woman asked me, “So the other day I was sitting at Rotary with a man … Continue reading
Posted in Al's Observations
Tagged cultivation, Donors, making the ask, nonprofits, solicitations
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A More Powerful Kind of Legacy
My friend Susan is a fan of my blog and usually sends a note to say that she agreed with what I wrote that week. But not when she read my post, “An Approach to Funding That Might Actually Work.” … Continue reading
Keeping the Glass Filled
More years ago than I’d care to admit, I spent four months as a Russian language exchange student in what was then the Soviet Union. One night I went to a hockey game – the local team against the Red … Continue reading
Posted in Al's Observations
Tagged acknowledgement letters, I.R.S., Penelope Burk, Soviet Union, thank-you letters
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As Rich as Rockefeller?
All of you who are struggling to get your next foundation grant application pulled together and those of you who work earnestly as foundation staff or trustees may want to pause and think about how these entities – the powerful, … Continue reading
Simple: Bequests
I ended my last blog post on a cliff-hanger, saying that I would reveal what the 99% of the nonprofits without a designated planned giving officer can do to bring in planned gifts. My first answer is to focus on … Continue reading
Posted in Al's Observations
Tagged bequests, legacy society, planned giving, Planned Giving SImplifed, Robert L. Sharpe Sr.
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The Big Deal About Planned Giving
For a small place, my home state of New Hampshire puts up some pretty impressive numbers. For example, we have 424 members in our state legislature, the fourth-largest English-speaking legislative body in the world, smaller only than the U.S. Congress … Continue reading
Posted in Al's Observations
Tagged antique cars, art collections, assets, bequests, iceberg, income, life-income gifts, New Hampshire, planned giving, wealth
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An Approach to Funding That Might Actually Work
As you may know, I’m a bit of a skeptic about the efficacy of traditional endowments. In an earlier blog post, “THIS is the Rainy Day,” I urged nonprofits with endowments to increase their spending rate in tough times and … Continue reading
A Trail Goes Cold
So these two guys walk into a bar. Actually, I was one of them. It was the end of a conference in Minneapolis last fall, and I had to kill time (and find food) while I was waiting for a … Continue reading
What’s in a Name?
First, a story about my mother. It’s the kind of story I can tell, but you can’t, because she’s my mother, not yours. My mom, who recently turned 87, is a very traditional woman of her generation. And she never … Continue reading
