This Corona-virus pandemic has been going on for quite some time now. A show of hands, please, for those of you who are sick and tired of it and don’t want to take it anymore.

While we're relatively sure that you just raised your hand (at least mentally), you may also be between a rock and a hard place. 

On the "rock side" are those who say it’s poor form to try to take advantage of a time when so many people in our country have died due to this virus. On the "hard place" side, are all of the great things you’ve been able to accomplish since mid-March.

Really, we’re proud of most of our clients. They haven’t sat back. They’ve continued to communicate and ask for support. And with very gratif...

For at least the foreseeable future and maybe even longer than that, the world has changed. 

Many nonprofits have dramatically altered the way they plan and operate. The question we’re asked almost daily is What do you think we should be doing right now? 

One thing is very clear: we all must look at this crisis from a long term, rather than short-fix perspective. It should be obvious that talking to your supporters about the same things you talked to them about 2 months (or even 2 weeks) ago is silly and misguided.

Too much has changed. 

I’ll bet you’d give just about anything right now to go back to the way things were at the beginning of March when things were “normal.” So, I thought, would...

There are things your school (you in fundraising) can do right now that will add value to your donors and other constituents. Maybe you just haven't thought about them yet.

Rescigno's would like to help with that.

• Have you given any thought to making your most popular classes available to your alumni? Even to alumni who haven't been heard from since goodness knows when.

• How about coming up with a list of health care workers and first responders from your school and celebrating them as the heroes they are?

• Try simply reaching out to your alums about the good things they are doing right now to fight the virus' spread. Yes, be sure to explain what you are doing, but don't just ma...

 We’re being asked a lot lately what other nonprofits are doing during this time. Let us answer it this way.

Consider the following scenario: 

Non-Profit Staff Meetings During March/April: It would be insensitive of us to ask our donors for a gift this Spring. They’re probably not going to give until this pandemic goes away. Let’s just wait this thing out and then we’ll let them know how we handled it (and ask for a gift too).

March/April Donor: I wonder how my favorite charity is handling this coronavirus crisis? Gee, I haven’t heard anything from them. No call, no email, no letter informing me of what they’re doing. I wonder if they’re going to be sending out an appeal asking for mone...

In my former profession in secondary education, my first boss was fond of saying, “It’s a grand life if you don’t weaken.” Whenever there was a crisis or even a rumor of one, those were his go-to words.

His outlook was perennially optimistic and it made those who worked for him optimistic, as well.

These are, I think, good words to remember, especially during these very, very challenging days, weeks and months we’ve been living through.

As far as the world of fundraising is concerned, donors are an amazingly resilient group as is philanthropy. With only a few exceptions, giving has increased every year since World War II.

What’s also very true, however, is that in times of crisis, it’s those...