Accordians

• Acceptance of Gifts

  An organization should have policies in place to govern the acceptance and disposition of charitable or in-kind gifts that are received in the course of its regular fundraising activities. These policies should include procedures to determine any limits on individuals or entities from which the organization will accept a gift, the purposes for which donations will be accepted, the type of property which will be accepted, and whether to accept an unusual or unanticipated gift in light of the organization’s mission and organizational capacity.
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• Donor Relationships and Privacy

  • Nonprofits should respect the donor’s right to determine how their name and contact information is used, including providing opportunities to remain anonymous, request that the organization curtail repeated mailings or telephone solicitations from in-house lists, and have their names removed from any mailing lists which are sold, rented, or exchanged.
  • Nonprofits must honor the known intentions of a donor regarding the use of donated funds.
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• Fundraising Activities

  • Solicitation and promotional materials should be accurate and truthful and should correctly identify the organization, its mission, and the intended use of the solicited funds.
  • All statements made by the nonprofit in its fundraising appeals about the use of a contribution should be honored.
  • Solicitations should be free from undue influence or excessive pressure, and should be respectful of the needs and interests of the donor or potential donor.
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• Sources of Income

  When determining what types of income sources are pursued by a nonprofit to meet its mission, the organization should carefully consider the income source's impact on the population served, its demographics, and overall mission alignment. The organization should also assess these sources of income for feasibility and any associated risk.
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• Resource Plan

  • Nonprofits should have a resource development plan in place. This plan should outline a framework for ensuring appropriate financial resources for the organization, and a reasonable process to evaluate cost effectiveness of all resource development activities. Ideally, the resource plan should include diversified income sources to avoid dependence on a single source. The resource development plan should be board-approved, regularly reviewed, and in accordance with the organization’s budget.
  • A nonprofit’s fundraising costs should be reasonable over time. On average, over a five-year period, a nonprofit should realize revenues from fundraising that are at least three times the amount spent on conducting them. Organizations whose fundraising ratio is less than 3:1 should demonstrate that they are making steady progress toward achieving this goal, or should be able to justify why a 3:1 ratio is not appropriate for their organization.
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