Alexander Haas, Inc.

09/30/2026

It’s always a good day when we see our clients getting recognition in the press. Today is no exception. We are delighted to see TWO clients featured in a lyrical piece in The New York Times about opera houses. Congratulations to Stonington Opera House in Stonington, Maine, and its Executive Director, Erika Sanger. And we didn’t miss the reference to Mary Louise Bok, the founder of the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia. We are proud to have served both organizations with fundraising services.

With a distinctly American vision of communal life and entertainment, these theaters have survived fires and floods because they were always about more than classical music.

07/21/2026

David King thinks summer isn’t just for vacation. “I think a dedicated summer strategy is a good idea. Summer is always a challenging time for major gift work. Between staff and donor vacations, holidays, and the generally more relaxed mood that summer brings, it can be very hard to do effective major gifts work.”

https://www.nonprofitpro.com/post/make-the-quiet-season-count-with-a-summer-major-gifts-strategy/

06/26/2026

Regarding the continued decline of giving to Religion, David King offers this. “In 2025, giving to Religion was just 23% of total giving, whereas in 1987 it was 52% of all giving. So, the percentage of giving going to Religion has been cut in half over the past 40 years. But it's not just the percentage. Since 2005 (the past 20 years), giving to Religion has grown by only 1% in inflation-adjusted dollars. Basically, the purchasing power in the Religion sector has not increased in 20 years.”

06/25/2026

David King cautions not to be deceived by Corporate giving growth. “Corporate giving is increasingly driven by in-kind gifts, specifically pharmaceuticals. You see this in the increase in Corporate giving (up to 7% of the pie, tying a record), but you also see it in giving to Individuals, which received a record-high 4% of all giving. This is tied to programs that make medications available at discounted or no cost to people who cannot afford them. So, while giving from Corporations does appear to be growing, the growth is largely non-cash, largely pharmaceuticals, and largely not going into the “nonprofit sector” per se.”

06/24/2026

David King doesn’t see the “BBB” had much impact on giving. “The change in the tax treatment of charitable gifts in the Big Beautiful Bill did not seem to have much, if any, impact on giving behavior among high earners. It was expected that the tax advantage for high-income donors to accelerate gifts in 2025 would result in increased giving from that subset of donors. However, it appears that did not materialize. Although you have to squint to see it. Giving to Foundations actually declined in 2025 compared to 2024.

06/23/2026

David King doesn’t think this is surprising. “Giving USA 2026 was released this morning, reporting that philanthropic giving in 2025 surpassed $600 billion for the first time in history, coming in at $617 billion, a 5.7% increase over 2024. This is not surprising, given the strong performance of the S&P 500 (which is highly correlated with charitable giving) in both 2024 and 2025. So, I think much of the headline warrants a “yeah, no duh.”

06/18/2026

Jaci Thiede says start early and educate. “Yes, of course, you should segment your appeals based on different generational experiences. But if you want to build your younger donor base right now, start educating them when they come to campus. It’s not their fault, but generally, students don’t understand what it takes to deliver the education - faculty, staff, campus, programs, scholarships, athletics, arts, etc. Teach them early on and keep educating them throughout their time on campus and after they become alumni. They have to understand before they will donate.”

Colleges are ditching the one-size-fits-all appeal.

06/17/2026

David King says this is great in theory. “As a firm that advocates using volunteers for fundraising, I must add that it is really, really challenging to do this at scale. Let’s say you are going to ask volunteers to find 5 new donors. If your target is 500 new donors, you are going to need 100 volunteers and a system and at least one staff person to manage them. I agree in principle, but scaling this is complex.”

Learn how to use volunteer donor prospecting to grow your nonprofit's pipeline with peer introductions, gift clubs, and ambassador programs.

06/16/2026

Jaci Thiede says if you aren’t telling a story, you aren’t doing it right. “I believe storytelling is now more common in fundraising than at any time before. If you aren’t already focused on telling your donors about the impact of their gifts through storytelling, you should read this article a couple of times.”

Learn why fundraising storytelling outperforms the organizational pitch and get two practical tactics for connecting with individual donors.

06/15/2026

David King points out that the figure is reshaping. “The donor pyramid actually collapsed in the post-Great Recession era. We now see more “hourglass” shapes than true pyramids.”

Six institutions on the strategies broadening their donor pools — and reducing their dependence on big gifts.