Chequebook charity: this was a term used years ago in philanthropy to imply that a donor would make a gift without concern for the return on the gift. The charity made a request and a donor would simply get out his or her chequebook and write the cheque. Of course, there were exceptions, with some donors demanding more from the organisation.

Fundraising revenue represents an important value-add opportunity for non-government schools, particularly in the current economic environment where many families are experiencing flat wage growth and rising school fees. Add to this the increasing competition between non-government schools and some significant movement of student enrolments back to government schools and it all adds up to an opportunity to re-examine the opportunities presented by fundraising.

Following the devastation of earthquake damage in 2010-2011, AskRIGHT has assisted the Catholic Diocese of Christchurch in raising nearly $7 million to date from 10 parish capital campaigns, with more campaigns to come over the next eighteen months.

For the Australian non-profit sector, the ACNC is a source for factual information about charities, without bias or persuasion. I am reminded of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s use of the proverb “trust, but verify” in discussions surrounding nuclear disarmament.

Using the detailed donor and alumni databases already available to them, for many years non-profit organisations have sliced and diced these lists to examine each possible variable: gender, age, location, affinity groups, marital status, and whatever else. This kind of analysis provides important information on “who” the organisation’s donors are, but only rarely has it helped gain an insight into “why” they donate. This is changing.