Explainers
Nonprofit fundraising, explained in plain English
The pages that do not expire. Written for donors, board members and the people who run small nonprofits. Every number carries its source.
Explainer
What should happen after you donate to a nonprofit
For donors. The receipt is the law. Here is what good organizations send after it, and how to ask for what you want.
Explainer
How to read a nonprofit's Form 990 in ten minutes
Where to find it free, the four parts that matter, and the overhead-ratio trap.
Explainer
Donor retention: what the number means and why yours is probably 40 percent
One definition, a five-minute spreadsheet method, the sector benchmarks with sources, and the three things that move it.
Explainer
The mid-level donor program on one page
The $1,000 to $10,000 donors nobody owns, the 2026 numbers, and a program one person can run with a phone and a calendar.
Explainer
Donor-advised funds, explained for small nonprofits
How a DAF grant reaches you, why it arrives without a name, the one sentence your donate page is missing, and DAF Day on October 8.
Explainer
Five questions every board member should ask about fundraising
What a good answer sounds like, what a bad one sounds like, and what to do when nobody in the room knows.