Visionary Voices

Visionary Voices is a platform dedicated to sharing bold ideas, lessons learned, and insights that can truly make a difference in philanthropy. Whether you’ve developed a unique strategy, discovered powerful lessons from challenges, or have expert advice to help others grow, your voice matters here. Stories of success—and the valuable insights gained along the way—have the power to inspire, connect, and spark conversations that move the sector forward. Share your expertise or personal experiences today, because the future of giving needs voices like yours. Contribute and be part of something bigger.

Six Building Blocks of a Strong Nonprofit Brand

First impressions shape how people judge both individuals and nonprofits. Just as social interactions can hinge on superficial questions like “What do you do?” or “Where do you live?”, donors often gauge an organization’s credibility by its branding, not its actual impact. A strong nonprofit brand—through name, logo, messaging, voice, typography, and color—signals capacity and potential, attracting trust, resources, and partnerships that fuel meaningful growth.

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Wall Street Journal Clipping: Many Colleges Fail in Teaching How to Think

Many Colleges Fail in Teaching How to Think — And Donors Are Catching On

In 2017, the Wall Street Journal warned: “Many Colleges Fail in Teaching How to Think.” Eight years later, was it prophecy? Alumni giving is down. Public confidence has collapsed. Colleges are closing almost weekly. Donors now ask: Am I funding thinkers—or just diplomas? Real education, or expensive amenities? If students leave no better at reasoning than when they arrived, why should anyone keep writing checks? The warning was clear. The collapse was inevitable.

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Surreal desert landscape shaped like a human eye, symbolizing the illusion behind inflated legacy gift lists and the need for clearer vision

The $117 Million Mirage: Why Most Legacy Gift Lists Are Illusions

A nonprofit celebrated 1,270 bequest commitments worth $117 million. Reality check: filtering for actual prospects yielded 55 names. Calling those 55? They reached five people—none remembered making any commitment. The culprit: organizations spending $8,000-$20,000 annually on digital tools, expecting software to cultivate donor relationships. When results disappoint, staff move on, leaving nonprofits with the cleanup. The lesson: five genuine legacy phone calls will always outperform 1,270 fictional commitments. You can’t build relationships with shiny website objects.

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Depiction of Harvard University

Would You Donate to Harvard?

Harvard: citadel of brilliance or fortress of privilege? For decades, liberals slammed it as an elitist gatekeeper—legacy admissions, donor perks, and wealth dressed up as meritocracy. Now, conservatives aim to gut its funding, branding it a woke factory. Different flags, same battlefield. Reform or revenge—the motives have shifted, but Harvard remains rich, elite, and untouchable. The question isn’t whether it deserves criticism. It’s whether you’d bankroll an empire of inherited advantage… or gamble on the promise of change.

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Nonprofit board members sitting in a conference room - watercolor rendering

Nonprofit Boards Should Include Young People

It’s time we stop thinking of young people as future leaders and start recognizing them as current ones. Boards are not clubs for years served but strategic bodies for stewarding the mission. Readiness isn’t about age—it’s about perspective, commitment, and passion. Including younger voices isn’t symbolic—it’s strategic. They bring energy, authenticity, and digital fluency. If your board makes decisions about youth, equity, or tech, their presence isn’t optional—it’s essential. Empower them, don’t just appoint them.

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Concerned fundraising professional reading tax reform updates, reflecting nonprofit sector’s uncertainty after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act passed.

New Law, Same Panic

On July 4th, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) became law—prompting predictable panic in the nonprofit sector. Critics decried lower top-tier deductions and a new AGI floor. But pause. OBBB didn’t undercut charitable giving—it strengthened it. By making key reforms permanent, it created clarity: a 60% AGI limit for cash gifts, a new deduction for non-itemizers, and preserved estate exemptions. Just as important, it solidified long-term economic stability—an essential foundation for future generosity. This wasn’t a loss; it was a safeguard. The smart fundraiser sees the opportunity, not the noise. It’s time to stop reacting—and start leading.

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Small boat charting rough waters and winning — symmetry with a small foundation that succeeded against all odds

Small and Mighty 

The GOSUMEC Foundation proves you don’t need to be a big nonprofit to achieve sizable results. Drs. Sanjay and Archana Bindra turned their 25th wedding anniversary into a $1 million endowment for medical scholarships in India. With zero staff, full transparency, and a focus on legacy giving, their grassroots nonprofit offers a replicable model for small organizations everywhere. Visit gosumec.org or scan the QR code in GIVING magazine to learn more about their work—and the groundbreaking GIVE Study.

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Guests mingle at an elegant nonprofit gala under warm string lights, embodying a spirit of connection and intentional hospitality. When nonprofit events lead with hospitality, we move from transactions to transformations; build relationships; and embrace missions.

Unreasonable Hospitality: Transforming Nonprofit Events from Fundraisers to Movement Builders

When donors begin their estate planning journey on your website, they stay within your secure, branded ecosystem. No redirects to third-party vendors. No loss of control over sensitive donor data. We own PlannedGiving.org—the domain trusted by donors, attorneys, and financial advisors nationwide. Your custom URL (yourname.plannedgiving.org) keeps your brand front and center, unlike typical vendor URLs that bury your identity (vendor.com/yourname). Every detail matters when building donor trust and protecting your brand equity throughout the planned giving process.

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Illustration of a crouching nonprofit leader under a lightning-cracking storm cloud, symbolizing organizational fragility and looming Black Swan crises.

Built to Break: How Nonprofit Culture Creates Its Own Crises

Many nonprofits operate like unsuspecting turkeys, assuming past stability guarantees future safety. Built on feel-good events, crisis-driven appeals and compliance-focused boards, they remain fragile when unpredictable Black Swans—economic shocks, political upheavals, shifting donor sentiment—strike. Reactivity replaces strategy, visibility trumps resilience, and metrics reward vulnerability over strength. True antifragility requires cultivating long-term donor relationships, endowments, dissent-welcome hiring, mission-anchored vision, and durable structures that absorb disruption and emerge stronger, turning inevitable crises into growth catalysts for mission-driven impact ahead.

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