By Mary P. Walker, Petrus Blog Contributor & Local Charity Board Member

My community has just declared a state of emergency. I’m on the board of three nonprofits. While we are all trying to keep our social distance, these nonprofits are “out there” offering needed services, in creative ways and...

By Andrew N. Robison, President of Petrus Development

This week has been pretty intense. The Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is wreaking havoc everywhere. We have seen college campuses cancel all classes and meetings for the remainder of the spring semester. We have seen states ban all gatherings of...

In this episode, Andrew visits with Tom Ahern, communications guru and author of six books, including How to Write Fundraising Materials that Raise More Money and What Your Donors Want and Why.  They discuss a variety of topics and strategies, all in the world of communications. Tom is a huge advoca...

As we continue to inch closer to the 2020 Petrus Leadership Conference in Breckenridge, Colorado on June 7-10, and we get much closer to the January 31 cutoff for Early Bird Registration Rates, we wanted to share with you some of our guests on the podcast who will be at the conference presenting ...

 Participation in a giving day for nonprofit organizations is growing more popular with every passing #GivingTuesday. I like to think of giving days as the modern evolution of telethons!

Thinking back to the Jerry Lewis telethon every Labor Day to raise funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association ...

I love the TV show The Profit. Marcus Lemonis, a serial entrepreneur, invests in struggling businesses and offers advice on how to turn things around. Often even small adjustments in managing people, capital, or processes yield amazing results.

Following Marcus’ lead, I’m proposing a small tweak in...

Summertime is upon us again. Whether that means a break from 300 inches of snow or entering into a time of scorching 100 degree afternoons, summer is most definitely a time to enjoy a break from the hectic life of school, sports, meetings, and more. So what are you going to do with your summer free ...

By David Pederson, Director of Development, Catholic Community Foundation for the Diocese of Phoenix

Many times in a smaller organization we think a planned giving program is saved only for large universities and hospital systems with what seems like limitless financial and staffing resources.

 A successful appeal can provide an obvious financial benefit to a Catholic nonprofit, be an excellent evangelization tool for benefactors and prospects, and educate that same audience on the latest great news about your organization.

Appeals can also be perplexing. We wonder:

• What will resonate
...

St. Albert the Great’s monthly giving program is living! I don’t mean their monthly giving program is called the “Living Faith Society,” but it is actually living. It is growing and bringing life into their development program. And yours can too!

St. Albert the Great University Parish, or St. Al...

By Andrew Robison, President of Petrus Development

This past weekend, one of the biggest pro-life movies of our time was introduced to American audiences in theaters across the country. Unplanned is a biopic about Abby Johnson, a Planned Parenthood clinic director who underwent a radical transfo...

We all know that volunteers are vital to our ministries. Without them, we would have to spend more money doing things that need to be done or forgo doing them entirely. An engaged volunteer believes in your mission, and even learns more about it on the job.

How we treat volunteers matters, not only...