Are you thinking about starting a nonprofit? There’s so much to think about and consider! If you're located in the United States, one of the most important early decisions you’ll have to make is what type of the Internal Revenue Service's (IRS) 501(c) categorization will best suit your nonprofit.

There are actually 27 different types of nonprofit organizations that cover everything from cemetery companies to benefit trusts and everything in between! Most charitable organizations fit into one of three 501(c) categories. Each type has its own rules for tax-deductible contributions, lobbying, eligibility, and other things.

It’s critical to choose the right type of 501(c) for your organization because it impacts far more than just your tax exemption status.

We created an overview of the three most popular types of 501(c) categories to help make your decision process a little easier. To be totally clear, we're not legal experts, so we always recommend consulting with your legal counsel before making any decisions. To be more direct: take the advice of legal experts before taking any action or making any decision!

Most development professionals and fundraisers who work for nonprofits apply for grants at some point in their careers. After all, someone in the organization has to do it! Grants are often an excellent source of money to accomplish specific initiatives.

In 2018, contributions from foundations made up about 16% ($66.9 billion) of the national philanthropic giving. While individual donations still make up 68% of the total charitable giving, grants for nonprofits are an excellent secondary funding source for all kinds of organizations.

Finding grants that fit your organization's mission can feel overwhelming. They come in every shape and size you can imagine! Identifying the best grants to apply for can require some serious research, time, energy, and maybe even a little self-reflection.

There are many resources and services to help you identify and apply for the grants that best fit your organization. We rounded up a few resources and tips to help you get started!

Do you work for an organization that seeks to enact real, measurable change around a specific cause, policy, or position? A significant part of the work of many nonprofits includes advocacy. You're probably very invested in raising awareness, lobbying, and using other methods to change (or create) laws, influence people’s opinions, and bring about social change.

Whether your organization is directly or indirectly involved in advocacy, advocacy campaigns help nonprofits raise awareness about their mission and mobilize supporters to take action. Advocacy also helps organizations raise money!

Every advocacy campaign is different, with a wide range of goals, causes, advocates, and other variables. With the right preparation, you’ll be able to run a powerful, effective advocacy campaign. We put together a basic strategic plan to help you get started on your early advocacy campaign planning.

A key reason you’re not converting as many website visitors to donors is due to poor performing website pages. Too often, you’re left feeling like you’re doing everything right, but still aren’t seeing the impact you want. If only there were an easy way to gain powerful insights into your website’s visitors to help you figure out what to improve.

Luckily, that tool exists, and it’s free!

Many organizations successfully use email marketing, blogging, and social media to attract visitors to their websites. Unfortunately, a lot of nonprofits don't use Google Analytics to understand how people interact with their site once they get there.

We get it! Google Analytics can be overwhelming and hard to understand. But, if you know what to look for, it is an invaluable tool for your organization! Here are the basics of what you need to know about Google Analytics so you can get the most out of your nonprofit's website.

Did you know that 30% of all annual charitable giving happens in December? Ten percent of those donations come in the last three days of the year! Professional developers probably aren’t surprised by those statistics. Most nonprofits understand how critical year-end giving is to their annual fundraising goals.

With millions of dollars potentially at stake, nonprofit organizations must have an excellent strategy to get some of those coveted year-end donations. The great news is it’s never too early (or late) to start planning for the best year-end giving campaign yet!

We gathered some essential statistics every fundraiser should know about year-end giving and a few strategies to help you crush your fundraising goals.