by Amelia Aldred
Ah, December–that time of year full of end of year gifts from donors and a barrage of “year in review” and “best of” listicles from media platforms. For prospect researchers, those lists can be a great way to catch up on any news or resources you missed during the year. Here’s the Philanthropologist’s Top Five of 2018, both from our blog and others.
- Top Example of Anthropology in Fundraising
- Jeanne Bliss, “Introducing Anthropology and Ethnography to Your Customer Room: An Inside Look with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” Customer Bliss (blog), November 6, 2018. Listen to Jeanne’s interview with the St. Jude’s team here.
- Top Academic Article on Fundraising
- Conference paper by Ragan Petrie (Texas A&M University): “Optimal Incentives to Give.” Check out the Philanthropologist’s review here.
- Top “Food for Thought” for 2018
- This one is a three-way tie between Vu Lee’s blog post on how progressive foundations fail progressive movements, Helen Brown’s blog post on how ultra high net worth individuals fail to support meaningful social change, and Nina Simon’s post on how the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz succeeded in creating a new model of museum exhibit to support meaning social change.
- Vu Lee and Helen Brown’s post tackle the issue of how large, established organization fail to create lasting change, but they examine the issue from slightly different lenses. Nina Simon’s post demonstrates that significant change at large, established institutions is possible and offers resources and advice for transforming how organizations engage with the communities they serve.
- Top New Resource for Prospect Researchers
- The enforcement date for the General Data Protection Regulation was over six months ago, but nonprofits in the UK and the US are still figuring out how to it will (or won’t) change their operations. In addition, U.S. nonprofits may need to address data privacy issues for non-EU residents as well. The Information Commissioner’s Office has several resources to help organizations become GDPR-compliant. The Philanthropologist has compiled resources from the ICO and professional nonprofit bodies here.
- Top Nonprofit Humor
Bonus: Top Advice for Donors Around the Holidays
Best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season from the Philanthropologist!
About the Author:
Amelia Aldred is a lead analyst on the prospect research team at the University of Chicago and the administrator of The Philanthropologist. Amelia specializes in international and arts fundraising and has taught seminars on international philanthropy, industrial research, and internal communications at CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) and APRA (Association of Professional Researchers for Advancement). For more information about Amelia’s nonprofit experience, click here.