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Uncertainty will define 2026 for many nonprofits. Our Word of the Year is FORTIFY: strengthen your foundation, reinforce your team, and protect your fundraising against external pressures. See how today’s nonprofit trends can become opportunities for action in the year ahead.

As large language models (LLMs) become more embedded in professional communication, something subtle is starting to slip. This opinion piece explores what happens when organizations outsource not just tasks, but voice, and why authenticity still matters in a relationship-driven sector.

Every conversation has to begin somewhere. Whether you’re meeting a colleague, catching up with a friend, or sitting in on a parent-teacher conference, there’s always an opening—a few moments where both parties settle in and find their rhythm. Meeting with a major donor is no different. Before you ask questions or share your vision, the opening is what invites the donor fully into the moment.

This introductory blog launches Making the Ask, our fundamentals series on the anatomy of meeting with a major gift prospect. Before we explore the structure of the visit step-by-step, it’s important to reflect on why major gifts happen in the first place—and why sitting down with a donor has remained the most effective way to inspire transformational giving.

Before a feasibility study or campaign planning ever begins, there are four early signals that can tell you a great deal about your organization's readiness. This article outlines those signals and shows how they feed directly into the Four Pillars of a successful campaign: interest in proposed priorities, trust in leadership, willingness to invest, and volunteer commitment.

Holiday giving often sparks important questions: Will a campaign hurt the annual fund? Can donors give to both? This blog breaks down how annual and campaign giving work best together, offering practical ways to engage donors, strengthen your pipeline, and build year-end momentum.

At the SAIS 2025 Annual Conference, our team joined school leaders and experts to examine what is driving success in independent schools today. Here are the takeaways every school should be thinking about.

At its best, strategic planning is one of the most valuable opportunities a school has to strengthen connection with its internal and external stakeholders. This article explores four common strategic planning mistakes independent schools make, and how to create a plan that your team will implement and your school community will champion.