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I am sitting in the office on a Sunday afternoon.  It is very quiet; leaving time to really think before we get into the organized chaos we know as The Holiday Giving JOY Program here at Norwescap. I am quickly becoming surrounded by amazing donated presents to the point of no room for movement.  I just did a pick up from Claudia at the Owls Nest Day Care Center in Blairstown.  It is her first year in business and her teachers, staff, and parents were so generous providing multiple gifts for … [Read more...] about Reflections on the Holiday Program at the Norwescap Traditions Family Success Center

The news cycles are constantly populated with stories about the negative impacts of data collection. But there’s some good in there, too. For every kind of organization, large and small, established and startup, learning from the feedback of its target audience is critical to the organization’s ability to have an impact. It implies that the organization is making an effort to better understand those it’s trying to serve and that it’s willing to reconsider services and products to make them … [Read more...] about There’s Some Good in Data Collection, too

In our last blog post, we defined what’s becoming an increasingly popular form of fundraising, the matching campaign. We also discussed how to safeguard yourself as a donor and ensure you’re giving to a legitimate matching campaign and even how to plan your giving around matching campaigns. Here, we’re drilling down a bit further to address a few common concerns and misperceptions about matching campaigns, starting with how you can go about asking a charity to verify that there’s an actual … [Read more...] about Answering Questions About Crowd-Funded Match Campaigns and the Nuances of Conventional Match Campaigns

Maybe you heard about a matching challenge in passing during the most recent NPR fundraising campaign. Or maybe you’ve received an email or a piece of mail from a charity that references one. Either way, you’re intrigued. Could it really be as simple as it sounds? you’re wondering. The short answer: Yes and no. What’s a matching campaign? A matching campaign is one where a donor—which can be an individual, a group, or a foundation—has pledged to make a significant financial … [Read more...] about What You Need to Know Before Giving to a Matching Campaign

It’s a popular misperception that charitable giving is strictly for the fortunate few who have large stores of disposable income. Volunteering, for one, is just as valuable to an organization as a monetary donation. Your time is valuable and your free time is precious. Showing up to support a cause these days implies a certain level of seriousness and commitment that tends to resonate with people, particularly those who know you best. There’s also immense value in being a fundraiser. For … [Read more...] about How to Get Everyone on Your Contact List Behind Your Cause

With the transition to fall comes the inevitable closet reorganization. If you’re the fortunate owner of a walk-in, said reorganization could just be a matter of shuffling the shorts, tees, and sandals to lower-priority positions. For the rest, it likely entails lugging large Tupperware containers to awkward corners of the home. Either way, some kind of evaluation should take place in the process to determine what’s worth storing through the winter and what should be donated. If not now, … [Read more...] about How to Streamline Your Closet and Help Someone in Need in the Process